Dying Shad

[Robert Riley]

Went out this morning to a spot and saw some dying shad scattered around the pond. It's a probably a 1.5-2 acre pond. I guess it was like 60 yesterday, and it's about 40 today. This is the first time I've seen them like this. They looked just like what a jerkbait imitates (which is cool in itself). Any particular reason as to why I'd have seen so many all of a sudden?

[spoondfed]

I suppose it could be a temperature change. Are they Gizzards or Threadfin? I think the Threadfin Shad are a little more sensitive to temperature change. Also it seems often the things just die, they aren't the toughest fish around.

[RoLo]

In northerly climes, a winter die-off of threadfin shad is a common annual event.

As you correctly stated, these fishkills are the brainchild of the 'jerkbait'. 

You mention a 20-deg temp change from one day to the next, so I assume you're referring to air temps.

On a small pond (1.5-2 acres) that was evidently enough to trigger a noticeable fishkill.

 

Roger

[Robert Riley]

Wanna say they're gizzards, they've been known to get hand-sized in that pond. And yes, it was air-temp that I was referring to.

[RoLo]

14 minutes ago, Robert Riley said:

Wanna say they're gizzards, they've been known to get hand-sized in that pond. And yes, it was air-temp that I was referring to.

 

Good point.

Gizzard shad are rarely a meaningful source of bass forage, a title that belongs to threadfin shad.

As it happens, "hand-size" kind of treads the line, which can be attained by fully adult threadfin shad

but is more likely to be middling gizzard shad.

 

Roger

 

[everythingthatswims]

3 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

Good point.

Gizzard shad are rarely a meaningful source of bass forage, a title that belongs to threadfin shad.

As it happens, "hand-size" kind of treads the line, which can be attained by fully adult threadfin shad

but is more likely to be middling gizzard shad.

 

Roger

 

ehhhhhhhh

[Bluebasser86]

Gizzard shad are far and away the more important forage for our bass. Often times, if you want to find the big bass, you have to find the big gizzard shad first, hand sized ones are about perfect sized. They are sensitive to temperature swings though, and it seems like there's always at least a minor die off during the winter. 

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, everythingthatswims said:

ehhhhhhhh

 

My bad!

I should've said fully mature gizzard shad in comparison to the max length of threadfin shad.

[everythingthatswims]

33 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

My bad!

I should've said fully mature gizzard shad in comparison to the max length of threadfin shad.

Oh definitely, some places I fish have 14-16" gizzard shad. Lots of them! Seems like by a gizzard shad's second year, unless you're a 5lber you probably aren't eating them.

[Paul Roberts]

Here's a screenshot from some video I shot earlier this year. That's a 16in bass.

 

[Bluebasser86]

5 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

Here's a screenshot from some video I shot earlier this year. That's a 16in bass.

 

That's awesome! 

 

Bass don't have mirrors to know how big they actually are. They don't have hands to grab something to inspect it to decide if they can or can't eat it either. Only way for them to find out, is to try to eat it. 

[Paul Roberts]

On 2/13/2017 at 11:21 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

That's awesome! 

 

Bass don't have mirrors to know how big they actually are. They don't have hands to grab something to inspect it to decide if they can or can't eat it either. Only way for them to find out, is to try to eat it. 

Yeah, it was pretty cool. The "thump" from the strike is audible in the vid.

 

Entirely true! I call it "sampling" a term I first used to describe drift-feeding trout. But bass do it too. They don't have hands. 

 

In this case however, that was a male bass with fry defending his territory. It was a comical, or maybe tragic, scene. The big female shad was hoping to spawn. They do so by broadcasting eggs rapidly over cover, with a herd of male suitors giving chase. But this female had no suitors. There was a mutual attraction going on: The shad was excited by the rapidly cruising bass willing to chase her, and the bass was excited too but with very different intent.