Thread: catching shad

hello everybody i was just curious , where do you catch shad on wylie,norman and wateree this time of year ? i like to catch my own bait for blues and stripes,but i havent done a lot of fishing in the winter , i mostly bowl, that should explain my screen name.in the summer and spring it is easy to catch shad but in the winter i have a batting average of about 20% catching bait

on wateree try the bridges

Bowler man , the shad are shallow right now on Wylie.Look in the backs of creeks and coves and you'll find them.We saw LOTS down at the dam on Wylie the other day.Back in the cove where they used to let you swim at the dam RH side.Hope this helps.Look against the riprap in that cove.

I have NEVER Caught shad , Just barey can throw a cast net ( I have had it "open up " only 4-5 times in my life !! BUT I have always wanted to net some Thred fin Shad, the smaller shad with the black dot on them & use those still alive as Crappie Bait in the winter /early spring , I can not even begin to tell yall haw many Crappie I have caught that thier guts were full of these shad !!

Shad this time of year in most lakes, Wylie and Wateree included, will be in the coves in depths of 4 to 8 feet. At Wateree try the back coves at colonels creek, dutchman creek and wateree creek. I like the Allison cove behind the bridge at Wylie but any of the coves should be holding them. Early in the morning and just before dusk they will schooling by size near the surface and are easy to spot. As a general rule shad will stay in the shallows until the lower water temperatures will drive them back to deeper water. The cycle starts all over again next spring when they will move back to the shallows until the hotter temps drive them back to the deeper water and so on. Stripers follow them all the way up and all the way back in Wateree but not Murray where blue herring which go much deeper and colder than shad become the preferred prey, crappie hit them on the way in and on the way out . At least thats my interpretation of the cycle. Stripers in particular can be caught in the late spring near the banks in four to eight feet of water chasing shad. I have a friend who striper fishes mainly in the fall near the banks and catches them too. I like to hunt to much in the fall to try them but sometime I might give it a go.

well allen42 in the spring i use the small shad you are talking about when i troll and it works better than any store bought minnow,but it is hard to catch the small shad ,i use a quarter inch shad net so i can catch the small ones about a inch to inch and a half ,dont matter if they live or not that way. if you have a good livewell and use water treatment they can be fished under floats,but they dont live long once hooked ,so if i use them i troll or jig . jeff

Same thing on Norman, backs of creeks.I was out last weekend scouting and saw just what these guys where telling you.Norman also has herring I have been told that they can be caught at the fresh water intake for marshall steam plant.Advice given to me about herring was,longer rope on your castnet,heavier weights on it and try at the lights[fresh water intake]let it sink as deep as you can.You will either catch a whole lot or none.BTW IAMFISHING very good post

there is a spot on norman ive always been able to net nice shad during the dead cold on winter. i dont remember the name of the creek, but its up lake of the 150 bridge. there is a marina there that is well lit. anywhere around there and around that bridge ive always caught shad there (the few times ive actually fished norman by boat uplake) they will be a mix bag of shad, herring, and gizzards. gizzards will be large but the others usually about 1-2 inches long. hope this helps some.

i found a net at bps awhile back thats great for catching small shad at the boat without having to throw a net. i think i paid 13-14 bucks for it. it is square and folds up like an umbrella. when its open, its about 3-4 ft square. you open it up, drop it into the water and wait a few minutes till the shad start swimming again and pull it in slow and easy. it will have plenty of minnow sized shad in it. if you gonna keep em alive you will need a bait tank. puttin em in a minnow bucket, they wont last but a few minutes

Originally Posted by rango

i found a net at bps awhile back thats great for catching small shad at the boat without having to throw a net. i think i paid 13-14 bucks for it. it is square and folds up like an umbrella. when its open, its about 3-4 ft square. you open it up, drop it into the water and wait a few minutes till the shad start swimming again and pull it in slow and easy. it will have plenty of minnow sized shad in it. if you gonna keep em alive you will need a bait tank. puttin em in a minnow bucket, they wont last but a few minutes

I got one of those nets too, but I haven't had much time to use it yet. Do you use your mainly at night?