Do Shad "boil"?

[Mccallister25]

I just came home from a few hours of fishing at a local pond, and noticed that just about the whole time I was there, there was something "boiling" in the water. It stayed in the same general area for the most part. Every once in a while, something would bust in the middle of it (im assuming bass) and they would scatter, then quickly return to the formation. I swam a jig through it, dropped the jig into it, and ran a spook through it. They would scatter, and quickly reform. Any clues?

[00 mod]

Bream beds?  They are spawning like crazy right now here.  Also tilapia do that, but I doubt you have tilapia in NC.

 

Jeff

[Mccallister25]

The bream have the banks pitted up like crazy here also, but this formation was in open water. The thought of it being carp also crossed my mind, but I didnt know if they would keep reforming in the same area if spooked.

[WRB]

All minnows school tightly together so they look like something bigger to predators. What you are looking at could be several different species, whatever they are they are the same species. Young of the year carp, bass, crappie, bluegill, chub or shiner minnows or they could be shad spawning if the pond has a shad population.

Tom

[jignfule]

Yes shad boil, they fry and bake very well also

[Crankinstein]

It could be schools of shad. I'm in NC also and the shad at my local lake just started doing the "boiling" thing where you can see them massing at the surface. They usually start at the late spring early summer around here. Throw a crankbait or a top water through their school and you can pull some nice bass and some nice hybrids out.