Shellcrackers, as they are known here in the Lake Martin area, also go by the common names Redear Sunfish, Georgia Bream, Cherry Gill, Chinquapin, Yellow Bream and Sun Perch, as well as the scientific name Lepomis microlophus. But whatever you call them, this is a game fish that gets people excited in the early spring.

Shellcrackers don’t have a lot of color. They are mostly green with brownish spots, often arranged as faint vertical bars, on their backs. They are light gray to silver on the sides with light yellow to white bellies. Their fins are light green or yellow color. The only strong colors on these fish are on their “ears,” or opercular flaps, that are black with a splash of red or orange along the rear edges. Male Shellcrackers have red ears; the females’ ear flaps are orange.