Giant Shad

[jtharris3]

I’ve never seen a shad this large. Snagged him while throwing a chatterbait. LOL

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

They school up by the thousands that size in the warm water outlet in the power plant lake I fish in the winter, 12-18 inchers.  No bass is touching them when they get that size but the flatheads and bluecats have got something to say about them. I hit a ball of them when they were spawning with my throw net once and had to dump a bunch out because I couldn't lift the net into the boat it was so full of those giant shad. 

 

It's a pretty good fight for a minute until you get them on the surface when you snag one that size though. 

[TnRiver46]

I think the state record gizzard in TN is over 3 lbs 

[Deleted account]

Gizzard shad, called mud shad around here get bigger than the one pictured. They can be a problem as they become too large for all but the largest predators quickly in some places. Fishing spawns and growing YOY classes is a good (holding my nose) "pattern"...

[Captain Phil]

At one time, the Harris Chain was full of large gizzard shad.  Biologists identified them as a problem some years ago.  In large numbers, they hold and create harmful nutrients in the water column causing poor water quality.   Using large seine nets, they removed millions of pounds of shad from these shallow lakes.   Our improved water quality is a result of these efforts. 

[928JLH]

Lake Havasu is unfortunately getting overwhelmed with huge gizzard shad. Snagged a few over the years bigger than a size 13 boot. 

[J Francho]

We have monster American Shad up here.  I only see them in early spring.

 

[HaydenS]

Anyone ever tried to eat them?

[bulldog1935]

oversized Gizzard shad in reservoirs is why they began stocking stripers - the shad were out-growing the largemouth and white bass they first stocked to prey on them.  

[GreenPig]

Anybody can foul hook big ones.?

[Russ E]

I have snagged quite a few in the same outlet @Bluebasser86 is talking about. One thing I would like to add is they have to be one of the smelliest fish I have ever handled. It is easy to see why catfish love them. I try to unhook them before they get in the boat.

[soflabasser]

There are places I fish that I catch big gizzard shad on lures while fishing for other species of fish.

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, J Francho said:

We have monster American Shad up here.  I only see them in early spring.

 

That looks like striper candy 

[jtharris3]

Hopefully the pike and musky keep them in check up this way. 

[CountryboyinDC]

20 hours ago, J Francho said:

We have monster American Shad up here.  I only see them in early spring.

Likely you have hickory shad too.  They look like the picture below.  The Americans are bigger, up to 12 lbs I think, but a real nice one is 6 lb.  They call them 'poor man's tarpon' due to the acrobatics they perform when caught.  They reason you only see them in the spring is they're anadromous and spawning then, which they do in fresh water, like salmon. They survive the spawn, or I guess some do unlike the Pacific salmon.

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

That looks like striper candy 

Those are amongst the ones that don't survive the spawn.  At places around here famous for shad (Fletchers Boathouse), people mark monster stripers during the shad run.  

 

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, CountryboyinDC said:

Likely you have hickory shad too. 

Yep, as well as alewife and blueback herring, though I can't really tell the difference between hickory shad and American shad.  I would guess that most of the big shad in landlocked water are hickory.  AT any rate, they are both too big for black bass.

[Choporoz]

American and Hickory are both running up the Potomac now.  We go out a couple times every April to target them.  C&R only permitted...at least the last several years.  They are a blast to catch.  Wife and I caught a couple dozen last two weekends.  Hickory are real silvery and American have a green tint.  Average catch is between 14 and 18 inches.  Light lines and aerial fights.

[CountryboyinDC]

6 hours ago, J Francho said:

ep, as well as alewife and blueback herring, though I can't really tell the difference between hickory shad and American shad.  I would guess that most of the big shad in landlocked water are hickory.  AT any rate, they are both too big for black bass.

I don't know that we have any riverine herring other than the 2 shad species (American and hickory) that people target with rod and reel.  Our club has probably one of the foremost enthusiasts of shad fishing, and the first seconds minutes of his video tells the difference.  Amazingly, the meetings where he is the speaker are the most attended both at our (bass) club and Trout Unlimited.  Shad fishing is definitely a thing around here and Richmond.  

 

I don't know if hickory shad can survive in freshwater long enough to reach adulthood, but that might be true.  I don't think the one @GreenPighas is a hickory.

 

 

[GreenPig]

18 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I don't know that we have any riverine herring other than the 2 shad species (American and hickory) that people target with rod and reel.  Our club has probably one of the foremost enthusiasts of shad fishing, and the first seconds minutes of his video tells the difference.  Amazingly, the meetings where he is the speaker are the most attended both at our (bass) club and Trout Unlimited.  Shad fishing is definitely a thing around here and Richmond.  

 

I don't know if hickory shad can survive in freshwater long enough to reach adulthood, but that might be true.  I don't think the one @GreenPighas is a hickory.

 

 

It's a Gizzard. 

[flyfisher]

9 hours ago, J Francho said:

Yep, as well as alewife and blueback herring, though I can't really tell the difference between hickory shad and American shad.  I would guess that most of the big shad in landlocked water are hickory.  AT any rate, they are both too big for black bass.

Easiest way to tell is the mouth.  Hickory shad the lower jaw extends past the upper and on an american the lower jaw fits into the top jaw.  I've also seen that the hickory seems a little more flat on the back with the american being more rounded from the dorsal fin to the mouth area.  then of course there is the size....american shad are generally much larger on average as well.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

Easiest way to tell is the mouth.  Hickory shad the lower jaw extends past the upper and on an american the lower jaw fits into the top jaw.  I've also seen that the hickory seems a little more flat on the back with the american being more rounded from the dorsal fin to the mouth area.  then of course there is the size....american shad are generally much larger on average as well.

Thanks!

[Choporoz]

4 hours ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I don't know that we have any riverine herring other than the 2 shad species (American and hickory) that people target with rod and reel.  Our club has probably one of the foremost enthusiasts of shad fishing, and the first seconds minutes of his video tells the difference.  Amazingly, the meetings where he is the speaker are the most attended both at our (bass) club and Trout Unlimited.  Shad fishing is definitely a thing around here and Richmond.  

 

I don't know if hickory shad can survive in freshwater long enough to reach adulthood, but that might be true.  I don't think the one @GreenPighas is a hickory.

 

 

Awesome seminar.   Thank you!

[Bankbeater]

Looks like cut bait for catfish to me.

[bulldog1935]

stripers will eat cut bait, too

 

ok, then, bull redfish and black drum, big sow speckled trout, snapper - cut blue below - we fished through our bait on opening day, and I got up on the bow and caught bluefish on my fly rod - the samsonite snapper was caught on cut blue.  Any list you can put together will be abridged.  

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by bulldog1935
ya think?

[Bluebasser86]

49 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

stripers will eat cut bait, too

Lots of fish will. I've caught some really large bass, and even walleye on cut bait fishing for catfish.