Catching Shad

[LrgmouthShad]

Hey ya'll,

 

Wondering about effective methods and lures to catch threadfin and gizzard shad without the use of a cast net and also wondering about good ways to know what crawfish look like in your lake. Can you trap crawfish or something? I don't know much about them.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Been trapping Crawdads since a kid in traps like these.......Amazon.com : Frabill Crawfish Trap, 8 x 8 x 18-Inch, Black (1267) : Fishing Bait Traps : Sports & Outdoors

 

Just bait them, and leave them be for a few days, come back and you should have half dozen if your lake has a nice population.

 

As for threadfins.....super hard to keep alive, and given they are pelagic in nature, a  "minnow trap" device is much harder to deploy.     

 

Hate Gizzards so not sure about those....plus they can get huge.  

[Drawdown]

I’ve accidentally foul hooked gizzard shad before on a moving bait with fine wire hook(s).
 

First time was burning a small blade with two treble hooks on the edge of an island; second time was swimming a YUM spine craw on a small jig head, but I was bumping up against a sand/gravel bar between where I cast and the shore.

 

So the takeaway is trapping them on a shallow underwater “ridge.”

[Skunkmaster-k]

Dynamite?

[DitchPanda]

To me the most effective way to gather shad hands down is the cast net method...I've done it for years for catfish bait. As for craws I've always caught them in my minnow trap. Never targeted them but have caught alot nonetheless. You may also be able to research online and see what colors of crawfish are common in your area and match jigs accordingly.

Oh and thanks for the reminder...I need to net some shad for tomorrow mornings catfish expedition.

[Basser2021]

I've snagged them multiple times on accident, but never caught any on purpose

[roadwarrior]

Sabaki Rig

 

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/p-line-mylar-sabiki-rigs?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS|Shopping|Smart|Fishing|General|NAud|TopPerf|NMT&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmdGYBhDRARIsABmSEePYucNSLc0FWpO-_GshhJsriYvXlasxlOv1jkf2aRKJ9o7USONLkxUaAsMqEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[LrgmouthShad]

6 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Sabaki Rig

 

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/p-line-mylar-sabiki-rigs?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS|Shopping|Smart|Fishing|General|NAud|TopPerf|NMT&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmdGYBhDRARIsABmSEePYucNSLc0FWpO-_GshhJsriYvXlasxlOv1jkf2aRKJ9o7USONLkxUaAsMqEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

That looks very nice thank you sir

[TnRiver46]

Why no cast net? Only way I’ve ever heard to catch them without a net is the sabiki

[LrgmouthShad]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

Why no cast net? Only way I’ve ever heard to catch them without a net is the sabichi 

I assumed it was not possible to throw a cast net from a kayak but the YouTube university says it is possible so if that is case, feel I should be looking at throwing cast nets. 

 

I learned to throw one standing a while back but imagine throwing one from a kayak is quite challenging.

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I assumed it was not possible to throw a cast net from a kayak but the YouTube university says it is possible so if that is case, feel I should be looking at throwing cast nets. 

 

I learned to throw one standing a while back but imagine throwing one from a kayak is quite challenging.

I would pull over and get out but it can be done haha. If you can get any stonerollers in those small waters you fish, well you better hang on! 

[LrgmouthShad]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I would pull over and get out but it can be done haha. If you can get any stonerollers in those small waters you fish, well you better hang on! 

I'd never heard of stonerollers, thanks.

 

I am not looking to collect shad for baiting. Simply looking to analyze their size at a location and try to figure out where threadfin versus gizzards are located.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

8 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I assumed it was not possible to throw a cast net from a kayak but the YouTube university says it is possible so if that is case, feel I should be looking at throwing cast nets. 

 

I learned to throw one standing a while back but imagine throwing one from a kayak is quite challenging.

You really can't catch them in a casting net in deep water anyways 

 

Catching them with the net from a dock or shore is optimal 

[TnRiver46]

Just now, LrgmouthShad said:

I'd never heard of stonerollers, thanks.

 try to figure out where threadfin versus gizzards are located.

Stoneroller is crack cocaine to a river smallmouth 

 

trying to figure out where threadfin and gizzard are located on TN river is easy: everywhere

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I'd never heard of stonerollers, thanks.

 

I am not looking to collect shad for baiting. Simply looking to analyze their size at a location and try to figure out where threadfin versus gizzards are located.

Heck a good flashlight or docklight will tell you the size of the shad if that's all you want to do.    This time of year is great for finding schools.....all you have to do is wait until a pod swims past you as well

[LrgmouthShad]

Just now, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Heck a good flashlight or docklight will tell you the size of the shad if that's all you want to do.    This time of year is great for finding schools.....all you have to do is wait until a pod swims past you as well

Thanks. Asking for later. I am not going to be in a kayak for a while still probably but hoping I can get out sometime in fall or early winter. Maybe it'll be the same in the fall, that they are easy to see in the water. I dunno. Still fished ponds way more than I've fished large lakes.

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Stoneroller is crack cocaine to a river smallmouth 

Thanks  

 

I just kinda wanna catch a shad in a spot and be able to look at it and see what that little pretty critter is all about and then have an idea of what I am looking at. Yeah there's pictures online but I dunno, figured I wanna see the real thing

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Thanks. Asking for later. I am not going to be in a kayak for a while still probably but hoping I can get out sometime in fall or early winter. Maybe it'll be the same in the fall, that they are easy to see in the water. I dunno. Still fished ponds way more than I've fished large lakes.

If you got sonar you can't miss them either

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

If you got sonar you can't miss them either

 

 

Oh yeah I got sonar and seen school after school pass underneath me at Badin. 

 

I upgraded my unit over the summer to one that has mapping and that was HUGE for me to start to learn to fish offshore structure more than I normally do with some mild success. I look forward to doing it again and learning more about it; structure fishing was addicting

[AlabamaSpothunter]

3 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Oh yeah I got sonar and seen school after school pass underneath me at Badin. 

 

I upgraded my unit over the summer to one that has mapping and that was HUGE for me to start to learn to fish offshore structure more than I normally do with some mild success. I look forward to doing it again and learning more about it; structure fishing was addicting

Yeah sonar, and especially the side vu sonar have already shown to be the most game changing thing I've used in fishing.     I had sonar on my first Bass boat about 15 years ago, but this stuff today is incredible.

 

I can only imagine what it's like to have FFS/live scope.     I meet so many fisherman who have nice sonars, and have no idea what it's telling them, or what they are looking for.     Neighbor has the most custom sweet small lake boat ever, fantastic sonar, and has no idea how to use it.   Bear in mind he's a good fisherman, and has been fishing for Bass longer than I've been alive I'd imagine.   

[LrgmouthShad]

21 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

FFS/live scope

I almost wanted to start a thread asking how much it really helps. Very obviously, one part of me yells "yes it helps!" and I am sure that is the side of reason, but the other more creative side of me wants to believe that it's not really a big deal. I believe there are stats on some of the more popular big bass lakes that prove my creative side wrong, but that side of me persists. My method is when I am ready to start fishing a piece of structure, I turn my electronics off. At that point I tell myself I've seen what I need to see, and that the sound of sonar underwater is only hurting me. Maybe it'd be different if I had some sort of more advanced technology but with my simple unit, I see and look around and then shut it off while fishing.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

4 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I almost wanted to start a thread asking how much it really helps. Very obviously, one part of me yells "yes it helps!" and I am sure that is the side of reason, but the other more creative side of me wants to believe that it's not really a big deal. I believe there are stats on some of the more popular big bass lakes that prove my creative side wrong, but that side of me persists. My method is when I am ready to start fishing a piece of structure, I turn my electronics off. At that point I tell myself I've seen what I need to see, and that the sound of sonar underwater is only hurting me. Maybe it'd be different if I had some sort of more advanced technology but with my simple unit, I see and look around and then shut it off while fishing.

Guys like this are using it to change the game, not to mention the tourney guys who you can watch in real time depend so heavily on it.   Oklahoma angler Josh Jones is the hottest fisherman in the country (oklahoman.com)

 

Just the Side Vu was unbelievable for me, so I have to think this would only rachet it up to the next level.    Overkill for my situation, but the tech is amazing, and fascinating.  

[LrgmouthShad]

3 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Side Vu

Big deal for me also. When I found out that I could mark waypoints on Sideview the lightbulbs started going off. Still need to get better at detecting bottom composition. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

7 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Big deal for me also. When I found out that I could mark waypoints on Sideview the lightbulbs started going off. Still need to get better at detecting bottom composition. 

Like you said earlier, once you start seeing all that structure it's only a matter of time until your successes greatly improve.    My next step is to start planting structure again in this lake now that I'm finally seeing and marking all the natural stuff.     Before I just relied on stuff I placed or felt with carolina rigs and t rigs lol. 

 

Seeing a perfectly laid down tree extending 40-50ft underneath the water for the first time was my lightbulb moment.    It looked like I drew it perfectly on a tablet.   

[Chris Catignani]

I have a kind of unique way to catch shad. I just motor the boat right up next to the wall (below the dam) and scoop them up in a net. The net I have is a smelt net...its like a landing net...but metal.

I just make a back stroke like I was paddling and vola. Its gotta be a quick stroke.

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

2 hours ago, Chris Catignani said:

I have a kind of unique way to catch shad. I just motor the boat right up next to the wall (below the dam) and scoop them up in a net. The net I have is a smelt net...its like a landing net...but metal.

I just make a back stroke like I was paddling and vola. Its gotta be a quick stroke.

 

Haha, I was thinking of doing just this in the near future to live bait some threadfins.

 

I'm gonna take my smaller koi pond net and just scoop a few as they cruise by the boat.