Fishing Amongst Millions Of Shad

[MikeA57]

This is a question not only about bass fishing but also crappie fishing. A couple of months ago a buddy and I went crappie fishing and in the morning we had trouble finding fish. It just seemed like they were non-existent anywhere we went. We scouted and looked, went from place to place and there were no fish (and no baitfsh) to be found anywhere even though my buddy had been to this same lake two days before and had limited out in just a few hours. On this day, they were nowhere.

 

We kind of set back for a minute had a bite of lunch and then started going back around to the same spots we'd looked at earlier and then in one area (around some boat docks of residents on the lake) all the sudden there were MILLIONS of shad. The gulls started dive bombing the place, and baitfish were so thick that it made the fish finder act like the school was a hard bottom although we could see fish under them.

 

We'd drop our jigs down through the school right into the same depth as the fish and go nothing. Not one bite. We couldn't buy a bite. It was like the fish had so much food to choose from that they didn't even see ours even when we put it right in front of their noses. 

 

We had the same thing happen a couple of years ago while bass fishing. Huge schools of shad had assembled late in the day and the bass were tearing them up. We were throwing every kind of bait we could think of into the schools hoping that they'd hit and we got NOTHIN'. They just had no interest in anything at all we pitched at them. Here's a cellphone video of just a little bit of what we were seeing on this particular day. http://s240.photobucket.com/user/MikeA57/media/PICKWICK%20TRIP/PickwickTrip.mp4.html

 

So, what do you guys do in a situation like this? This was so frustrating to see so many fish in both instances and not even be able to get them to bite. 

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[slimshad]

I have caught bass and stripers on an Arig in that situation.  Yum FlashMob Jr with Keitech swimbaits.

[livetofish28]

I have caught bass and stripers on an Arig in that situation.  Yum FlashMob Jr with Keitech swimbaits.

Like slimshad said that is textbook A-rig situation i would have thrown one until my arms fell off 

 

    Tight lines 

 

      Andrew 

[Grizzn N Bassin]

some kinda of rig will multiple baits. an arig will do it or if you dont have an  arig. look up the donkey rig. tie one fluke up the main like about 10 inches then tie another right behind it. ive done very well on that.

[WRB]

Shad net!

Bass get on a shad bite very little else will get bit.

Structure spoons about the same size as the shad are another good option.

Tom

[wisconsin heat]

I threw an a-rig in that situation last year with absolutely no success i was shocked. But, I did have better luck on a topwater bite! keep a popper and a walker that you can cast a long way rigged up. 

[00 mod]

That is Pickwick and when the shad are bunched in the back of coves, it is just plain HARD!

 

Jeff

[Brian Needham]

Shad net!

Bass get on a shad bite very little else will get bit.

Structure spoons about the same size as the shad are another good option.

Tom

 

truth!

 

I have picked up a few with a flutter spoon when they will not hit anything else.

 

its wild, you pull into a cove and think you are going to whack them only to not have a bite for the next 2 hours even though they are busting within 10 foot of the boat.

[SirSnookalot]

Shad net!

Bass get on a shad bite very little else will get bit.

Structure spoons about the same size as the shad are another good option.

Tom

Happens all the time, fish are so busy with live bait they have no interested in a piece of plastic.  If you do catch something it's by sheer luck, your bait just got in the way of an open mouth.  This is the perfect time to use live bait, clipping a fin and or bleeding the bait makes it an easier victim. 

[Choporoz]

I've had similar experiences.  Somewhere on this site I recently read to drag spinnerbaits through shad bait balls.  Tried it for the first time last weekend and it was awesome!  Best strikes and fights of the weekend were on spinnerbaits in middle of shad schools at dusk. 

[MikeA57]

That is Pickwick and when the shad are bunched in the back of coves, it is just plain HARD!

 

Jeff

 

BINGO Jeff! 

 

That shad run was at least a hundred yards long and about 30 yards wide. On the FF it showed they averaged 4-6 ft deep to. There must've been a hundred million of those suckers in there. It'd been a long time since I'd seen a blow up like that.

[phototex]

I've caught bass under schools of shad like that at Lake Livingston (Texas)on tailspinners and spoons....but not often. Usually, topwaters work better for me.