How To Catch These Fish?

[Matthew Veillion]

I see shad all over omtop the water in my pond, how do i catch bass that are hitting the shad?

[JamesD]

throwing a spinner bait with a large willow blade and retrieving through the school of shad

Throwing a lipless crank bait that looks like a shad and retrieving the same way

Throwing a top water popper with a white/silver underbelly.

[Bluebasser86]

Fluke, swimbait, or rattle trap would be my pick.

[six-mile C-Rig]

live shiner... lol

[SirSnookalot]

They should hit anything, top water lure would be my favorite.

[Bankbeater]

Try throwing a weightless senko in the middle and letting it sink through the school.

[Crestliner2008]

A double prop surface bait should give you some action.

[JShe8918]

To the OP. I have experienced this in our lake! You can visually see the bass hitting a school of shad along a certain ledge. And nothing I throw seems to catch them. I have tried spinnerbaits, swim baits, buzz baits, even an alabama rig. And nothing. Surely there is a way to take a few of these fish. Hope this thread can help us in that venture!

[mharper04]

I used to use Storm Thin-Fins for when we came across schooling bass chasing shad. normally in Chrome w/ Blue back.

[Nitrofreak]

I like throwing a double rigged salt and pepper fluke and just let it fall through the bait ball.

[Bair]

Run a fluke into the middle of the school and then just let it sink to the bottom

[Pleiades]

White, weightless fluke. Works for me every time.

[retiredbosn]

White ice fluke seems to works better if there isn't much sun.

[Mad Fisherman]

I would try a few things. First, a a live target blue back shad, a Titanium silver spinnerbait, a rapala skitterpop, or use a castnet, catch some shad and use them as bait.

[basscrusher]

Sometimes, they won't hit anything. Why attack a lure when the real thing is so easy? If this happens (happens to me and my buddy a lot on one certain lake -- and we're not new to this game) get away from the bait schools and go after cover/structure fish.

All the lures mentioned above are the ones to try, though.

[WRB]

How do you know the baitfish are shad and what type of shad do you think is in this pond?

When bass are eating (thread fin) shad it's difficult to offer any artifical lure and expect strikes.

The best lures are shad color 3" spoons, underpin like Sworming Hornet, tail spin like Little George, surface popper like Splash-It and small. 4" shad color worms on 1/8 oz dart head.

Live shad is like candy to bass, so use a live shad for bait!

Tom

[tennsopher]

I agree with what Nitrofreak said ,a double fluke rig but work it through the breaking bass with short twitches of your rod tip.This makes them dart both ways and appear to be fleeing.Also. I like to throw a lucky craft pointer 95sp in american shad color pull it up to the bait with sharp jerks then kill it.Hang on!

[Bladesmith,]

I'm surprised no one mentioned a chrome spoon. You can vary the depth, let it flutter down imitating a wounded shad, or fish it various ways. It has worked for me on occasion.

[SirSnookalot]

When it comes to fish busting on bait, bass are one of the easier species to catch. I would not over read the situation, if you aren't catching it's just the luck of the draw.........I'm licking my chops then and I don't bother to change lures.