Lots of shad......

[birdgod]

Hi, I am a question, I always go fishing at Hillsdale Lake in Kansas. Yesterday I went there and it feel a little different. the water is still and there are millions and millions of shad in the water all over the water. Seeing so many shad I am thinking of netting some for bait. A cast of net got me a couple hundreds of shad... and it is about 2-3 inch size.......And I didn't got and fish yesterday......
My question is that, why are there so many shad in the water, does it meant that there are no more big fish in the water to feed on them? With access to so many shad, would it be useful to net some and use it later when there are gone? Last question, how do i store them? I see at basspro, the sell the shad in red oil. what is the red oil and how can i make it? thanks

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lots of shad......

Guys out here will freeze them on a cookie sheet, then bag the frozen shads, keeps them from freezing into a block.

There are concoctions for curing bait, makes the frozen bait more fishable. I've never done it so you'd have to google it.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Lots of shad......

When the shad are schooled up on top of the water like that and flipping around and feeding on plankton you aren't going to catch any fish. they're on the surface like that because they know the big fish aren't feeding.

The shad never go away, they just go deeper.

Freeze them like FD said, it's the best way. The shad in the red oil in the stores are worthless, they're deodorized so they won't stink up the store and the fish won't touch them.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Lots of shad......

The shad sometimes are on the surface for exactly the opposite reason that was posted above. They may very well have fish underneath them. When they are schooled up is a good time to drop a weighted live bait down low under them. Sometimes it is very hard to catch predator fish when they have plenty to eat. You can also try some surface plugs.

Shad are schooling fish that will migrate all the time
more in the spring and fall.

And yes, grab up some shad before the migrate out of there. Freeze them and use them when ever you can't find fresh bait.
They are good whole or for cut bait.

The red stuff you see at bass pro is just a preservative and sometimes has additives mixed in with a fake smell to draw fish. The fresh/frozen stuff will yeild you more fish imo.

I sometimes freeze them already rigged with hooks because when they are frozen, putting a hook in them sometimes isn't easy.

 

[mommicked]

Re: Lots of shad......

If you dont see or hear big fish hitting schools of shad on the surface, try dropping chrome or gold spoons about the same size down through the school and jig at various depths. Cripple herrings or BPS spoons work well if the big fish are still hungry

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: Lots of shad......

throw a 6ft net out there and land them and then move to better water,keep them in a livewell thats round or they will stay in the corners and die.The big boys are close by just check the structure and thermocline to find them.

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: Lots of shad......

When the shad are schooled up on top of the water like that and flipping around and feeding on plankton you aren't going to catch any fish. they're on the surface like that because they know the big fish aren't feeding.

The shad never go away, they just go deeper.

Freeze them like FD said, it's the best way. The shad in the red oil in the stores are worthless, they're deodorized so they won't stink up the store and the fish won't touch them.

If there on top,the bass brought them there.known as a boil,but he didnt say they were boiling,probally swimming under the boat or in fish finder range.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Lots of shad......

If there on top,the bass brought them there.known as a boil,but he didn't say they were boiling,probably swimming under the boat or in fish finder range.

This tells me you know very little about fishing and still have a lot to learn.

Had the shad been in a boil, the OP would've caught fish... probably a lot of fish. He also would've caught gamefish in his cast net while catching shad. Schooling feeding fish that bring shad to the surface will bite just about anything moved quickly through the school.

But! When shad are swimming lazily close to the surface in large schools and are easy to see and catch, you aren't going to catch gamefish. The predators aren't feeding and the shad know it. This situation often occurs on warm summer days with warm water and little or no wind. Thousands of shad will be on or near the surface in large schools, and there will be lots of schools of them. The schools will make little faint ripples on the surface and you can see the outline of the school on the calm water. There won't be any splashes from feeding predators and the shad won't be leaping out of the water for their little lives either. Everything will be nice and calm and you won't catch any gamefish.