Blowing up on shad

[GReb]

I’m finding it very difficult to catch quality fish that are blowing up on shad. In back pockets containing huge shad schools there are nice 2+ pounders blowing up everywhere. Some of them come completely out of the water. However only the small 10-14 inchers will bite. I’ve tried topwater, jerkbaits, flukes, cranks, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, rattle traps and even worms.  Nothing seems to work. Do you guys have any tricks that I’m missing?  It’s incredibly frustrating watching 5 pound fish blowing up 3 feet from your bait all day and not catching any of them!  Is it just a case of throw as many casts as possible and eventually one or two will bite?

 

Fishing river systems full of shad is relatively new for me. I’ve spent most of my life fishing lakes where bluegill were the main forage and I’m very comfortable with that. Sometimes I think turning a blind eye to the shad and fishing areas on the main lake containing structure that hold fish year round would be more productive. But it’s tough ignoring these large populations of quality fish in small areas. 

[DitchPanda]

Well I'm sure you've heard the term match the hatch before? Well as a general rule I think that is a good way to go but in my experience when fish are really keying in on a certain type and size of bait that's schooled up like that how can you stand out? One thing I've done when targeting fish blowing up on shad is use typical shad type baits...namely fluke, senko or swim jig...but in a bluegill pattern so it stands out against the backlight of thousands of shad.

You hit on something in the second paragraph that really makes sense. This year I tried and tried to target these shad chasers..and yeah I caught a few but mostly beat my head against the wall. So one day I got away from the schoolers and targeted shallow wood..was much more productive.

[Koz]

When I see a bait ball or bass scattering shad I throw a big buzzbait. Specifically a Strike King in the sexy shad color combo.

 

That rarely fails.

[sicklecat]

Gotta love shad fishing. I love their meat.

[plawren53202]

11 hours ago, GReb said:

I’m finding it very difficult to catch quality fish that are blowing up on shad. In back pockets containing huge shad schools there are nice 2+ pounders blowing up everywhere. Some of them come completely out of the water. However only the small 10-14 inchers will bite. I’ve tried topwater, jerkbaits, flukes, cranks, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, rattle traps and even worms.  Nothing seems to work. Do you guys have any tricks that I’m missing?  It’s incredibly frustrating watching 5 pound fish blowing up 3 feet from your bait all day and not catching any of them!  Is it just a case of throw as many casts as possible and eventually one or two will bite?

I don't fish much where there are big shad blowups, but I have heard that sometimes the bigger ones will sit underneath all the action and let the dinks or the white bass do all of the work and then grab dead shad as they float to the bottom. Maybe try throwing something that sinks pretty fast to get through the dinks and down to the bigger ones? Like a heavier flutter spoon? Not saying I would do that all that time, obviously the standard thinking is something that stays up like a topwater or squarebill, but maybe at least try a cast or two with a heavier bait?

[roadwarrior]

Sworming Hornet/ LFT Live Magic Shad

 

[GReb]

Thanks guys. I’ve matched the hatch pretty well and have tried sizing up a bit just to see if a larger profile may be attractive. I have not tried a buzzbait or WP yet. That is a good idea. The topwater I’ve used are frogs and spooks. The flutter spoon or hair jig is another good idea. I’ve tried yoyoing a rattletrap but it was a smaller trap with a slower sink rate.  
 

 

[BlakeMolone]

A popper has worked for me this year in several similar situations. The few seconds where all the bass are blowing up at once I would aggressively pop it and usually get bit during the commotion and when they weren’t blowing up that second I would give it lighter pops.

[scaleface]

I think it was Brandon Paulinik at Chickamauga Lake who ran into this situation . He used an underspin to catch them .

 

[TnRiver46]

Happened to me all day Saturday. One of them was a 30 lb plus striper that was flying through the air like a great white. Chasing jumping fish is useless about 97% of the time by my specific calculations.    
 

the 3% of time it works is first thing in the morning in the middle of summer 

[GReb]

I should’ve tried an under spin. Instead I slow rolled a chatterbait that I took the skirt off of. I really thought it was going to be the ticket too. It looked and felt really good but couldn’t generate any bites. 

[TnRiver46]

13 minutes ago, GReb said:

I should’ve tried an under spin. Instead I slow rolled a chatterbait that I took the skirt off of. I really thought it was going to be the ticket too. It looked and felt really good but couldn’t generate any bites. 

I was using live shad That I netted and they wouldn’t hit them 

 

if that ain’t “matching the hatch” I don’t know what is 

[Big Rick]

If you're seeing big fish blow up in the middle of tiny shad there's a great chance that the bigger fish are actually targeting the fish that are preying on those tiny shad. If you're determined to catch the bigger fish then upsize your bait. You won't catch any of the smaller ones, but the ones you do catch will be the top of the food chain. 

 

A big walking bait should do the trick since it has multiple treble hooks, can be fished in one spot longer, and better mimics the fishing preying on the tiny shad. 

[TcRoc]

I need to move wherever u all are at.. my scenery last few days is watching squirrel’s ? and hearing the occasional shotgun blast while fishing

[TnRiver46]

Just now, TcRoc said:

I need to move wherever u all are at.. my scenery last few days is watching squirrel’s ? and hearing the occasional shotgun blast while fishing

It sounds like bombs going off when striper get into the back of a cove. Shad are spraying everywhere crying out for help haha

[GReb]

37 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

It sounds like bombs going off when striper get into the back of a cove. Shad are spraying everywhere crying out for help haha

There were so many shad popping yesterday it sounded like it was raining

[TnRiver46]

13 hours ago, GReb said:

There were so many shad popping yesterday it sounded like it was raining

I feel ya, man. My boat never touched the water........... Just floated around on top of shad backs 

[MAN]

On 11/11/2020 at 6:25 AM, TnRiver46 said:

I feel ya, man. My boat never touched the water........... Just floated around on top of shad backs 

Dear God!...you aint lying!  They have absolutly no reason to bother with your lure 

[Cptndeez64]

Two weeks ago I found that the cove my dock resides in was the place to be for a feeding frenzy. There were blowups everywhere. I had put all of my tackle away for the day, but still had a rod rigged up with a “Silver” color Rapala DT4.So I decided to keep fishing. For about 45 minutes I caught fish on a majority of my casts. Real quick retrieve. Caught two LMB over 4, lots of little LMB, a 16 inch White Bass, and heck even a 5 lb Drum. It’s was a blast. So if you have one of those DT4s, give it a try.

[GreenPig]

3/4 oz Cotton Cordell chrome jigging spoon with a nice sharp Owner hook works great. Cast past the school count it down a few seconds a yo-yo under the hordes of small fish on the surface. I'm not responsible if you get your arm broke.

[Jonas Staggs]

Has anyone tried using shad on a bucktail jig or skirted jig? I have a lake where its the same I see monsters blowing up and I cannot catch them