Stupid question #83

Hawkeye · #1 06-30-2004, 09:01 PM

All right... I have a secret to confess... I don't know how to catch bait... How do you all locate your baitfish and what method do you emply to catch enough to fish without having to haul anchor to go back and catch some more? I'm talking shad, or whatever else you're using... I can catch bluegills and other fish like that, but I'm a complete failure when it comes to locating shad and putting it into the baitwell or cooler to use later... HELP

mudd_catt · #2 06-30-2004, 09:50 PM

I cheat. I use a Sabiki rig to catch skipjack, usually in some type of current oriented location. Shad I catch in a cast net, depending on where i am. or you can cheat and use chicken/rooster livers.

Hawkeye · #3 06-30-2004, 10:06 PM

I don't think we have Skipjack here.... I guess what I'm trying to say is that I just don't "get" where I should be trying to catch the shad.... creek mouths? shallow water? deep water? around structure? Dern it if I know... I've seen large shad jumping all over the river at different times, but the only place I've caught them reliably (and maybe I should stick with what I know, huh?) has been in the river by my house on spoons..... I'd like to learn how to catch fresh bait while I'm on the water... it's something I probably should've learned thirty years ago, but I didn't fish for catfish back then LOL......
I have lots of "store bought" baits that work on little fish... everyone tells me that if I want to catch BIG fish I need fresh cut shad... big chunks... and lots of it.
Thanks Mudd Catt... I still laugh everytime I read that thing about vegetarian being an old indian word for someone who can't fish LOL

mudd_catt · #4 06-30-2004, 10:34 PM

u mite try where current is coming into the river, or if you fish at nite, under lights.

Hawkeye · #5 06-30-2004, 10:52 PM

I figured the under the lights thing out from reading NightTrains' posts regarding catching bait at night, but most of my trips will be early morning to late afternoon until I am comfortable with taking the boat out. I'll try everything I can think of until something works LOL.... thanks

Mando · #6 07-01-2004, 12:20 AM

i hear ya on that one hawkeye, its a pain catching bait. usually they are in the creek behind our house but lately i havent been able to find any bait. castnet is the only method we use to catch shad. there always sure to be under lights but if its in the day sometimes u just gotta move around till u find em, at least thats what i have to do.

#7 07-01-2004, 02:05 AM

this is a cut n paste from my tips section ... hope this helps

A lot of people have asked me about finding shad ... or saying they don't know what to look for when searching for shad. Usually it's not too hard to find shad if there's a healthy population in the environment you're fishing. The most evident is the tell tale flipping on top of the water ... when you see a bright flash of white and a small splash on top of the water, that's usually shad and there's most always a lot of other shad with that one that just flipped on top. Get your thrownet ready to throw and when you see one flip, throw your net over where you seen the shad flip on top of the water. This is a good summer method when shad are swimming along sandy beaches or the shore.

If you're trying to find them in rivers it's pretty easy to figure out where they are ... usually along the edge of current is a good place to throw ... like in my fishin video in the Downloads section it shows me throwing right at the end of the retainer wall at the dam and netting about 30 shad with one throw. Current breaks or eddies is also a good place ... when there's water flowing past a point sticking out on the bank or a big boulder it creates a little current break where shad will congregate behind. Winter shad is a little tougher and usually requires a boat and good electronics. I use a nylon net for catching winter shad cause it seems to not close up as badly or you can use duct tape on the thrownet around the skirt to keep it from closing up ... you'll also need about a 50 ft handline cause they'll be deep ... troll around watching your graph and when you see a big school of shad throw your net ... take note to where your transducer is on the boat ... best to have one mounted or a built-in transducer on your trolling motor but if your transducer is on the back of the boat you'll have to have someone back there throwing ... wait until the boat moves about 5 to 10 ft past where you seen the shad on the graph and then throw behind the boat ... if you have a trolling motor mounted transducer then reverse the trolling motor and move back about 5 to 10 ft and throw where your transducer picked up the shad. good fishin!

I'll also add this, the lake you're fishing may not have a lot of shad .. this can be a problem as in clear water lakes the shad are very vulnerable to hybrids, stripers, and catfish so it may be a little harder to find shad in these situations. shad seem to do a lot better in muddy and murky water like here at keystone lake in oklahoma where it's muddy most of the year ...keystone has more shad per acre than any other lake in oklahoma and I think it's because of that ... the stripers and hybrids in keystone didn't do very well in keystone because of the muddy water also but the shad thrived. in the summer just be sure to watch the top of the water and visually locate the shad because most of the time just throwing the net where you see nothing will produce nothing and if there's shad near the area you're trying to catch them they will be pushed out of the area by the noise of the net hitting the water ... watch the water and throw only where you see them in the spring summer and fall ... in the winter they'll be deep and you'll have to locate them with electronics. also in the late spring when they're spawning there will be a lot of shad located on wind blown sandy shores ... most of the time sandy shores on the north side of the lakes is where I find most of my late spring shad due to most of the wind being out of the south ... hope this helps

Hawkeye · #8 07-01-2004, 05:52 AM

This is just what I was hoping for... and I'll give your suggestions a try this Saturday.... Thanks Tiny

medulla762 · #9 07-01-2004, 08:35 AM

Also find algae covered structure such as rip rap, pier piles, styrofoam dock floats, bulkheads.

Culverts and small creeks that dump into the lake are also great shad haunts .

At first light the shad will likely still be around but they retreat to the deeper water shortly after daylight.

Catfish · #10 07-01-2004, 03:01 PM

Tiny ,

That was a great post ... Welcome to the board ...

Hawkeye ,

I might add ... If you are in your boat -- some of the rivers have small inlet creeks that open up to wide shallow water when you get into them .. This seems to be a wonderful place to find the shad -- Watch for the riffling water and dark spots .. A pair of polarized sunglasses is a must when finding shad ,,, It will make your life a lot easier ... Also if you have a dam with walk up access to the sides ... The swift water closer to the dam usually holds bait ... This is also a great place to get bait and it is usally easier to come by ... Again - polarized glasses are a big help ... Usually you can take these shad with a long shad net or dip net - whatever you want to call it -- I would get one with the longest handle you can find 8' would not be over doing it here .. I would be careful with cast nets in these areas - 2 reasons - If you are not really experienced with a cast net - you can lose them and tear them up in these areas .. I try to act like I know what I am doing with one and occasionally still lose them - The 2nd reason is that some states have laws about throwing a cast net within X amount of feet from a dam .... Hope this is helpful ...