catching shad

[SteveJ]

Noticed mainly on the GA. forum about members catching shad for crappie bait. Never tried that so how about a lesson on your methods?

[Pooch]

Noticed mainly on the GA. forum about members catching shad for crappie bait. Never tried that so how about a lesson on your methods?

Steve, I've used a minnow trap I got at WallyWorld. I put dry chunk dog food in a mesh bait bag and center it inside with string. Sometimes it will fill up with baby shad and sometimes there's nothing. I don't do it often due to the problem of keeping them alive while fishing. I have better luck with shiners.
---Pooch

[KARL]

..Personally I use a cast net...I've got 4 right now...4', 5', 6' and 8' diameter...depending on concentration of bait, stumps and etc in water and how strong I feel.. :o ...determines which one I throw...also some use plain gold hook or sabaki rigs to catch individual fish...less stress to shad this way...but be warned they take some effort and/or $$$$ invested in tank setup to keep alive and frisky in summer...hope this helps some,,,good luck..

[slabbandit]

I usually take no less than a half pound of minnows out at a time and I have been seriously considering buying the "Oxygen Edge" system. This consist of a tank that holds pure oxygen and a top quality stone to put 100 percent oxygen into your baitwell or livewell or both.

No matter how good of an air pump you purchase it can only deliver 28 percent oxygen. This is all that's in the air that we breath. To put 100 percent oxygen on your minnows or shad would be like supercharging your bait.

I've read that some striper guides have kept 1000+ shad alive for over a week in 100 degree weather with the Oxygen Edge system.

I don't know how many times I've cleaned crappie and found shad in their bellys.

[CrappiePappy]

is the only way I've ever used. I have two cast nets ... both of which are from the Nylon Net Co. (www.nylonnet.com ) or call them at 1-800-238-7529 (24/7)
I would suggest requesting a catalog, rather than looking online, as the catalog has a greater number of size/style choices than what is currently online. It also has various other items, that may be of interest.

One thing you do need to know, before choosing a cast net, is the size of bait you want to capture. 1/4in square mesh is the smallest diameter opening of the net's mesh ... it will capture the <3inch size Shad. 3/8in square mesh will capture Shad >4inch in size ... but, will allow smaller ones to get thru or caught in the mesh openings. I have the 3/8in cast net for capturing Shad to use for Hybrid Stripers, Bass, or for use as cut bait for Catfish. I use the 1/4in cast net for the "young of the year" size Shad ... primarily for Crappie.
I believe both of my nets are the 4ft radius size ... one is nylon mesh, the other is monofilament mesh. I see no real difference in their performance.

Keeping the Shad alive, once captured, can be a problem without an adequate sized bait tank & aeration system. A round, smooth sided bait tank is preferrable ... and so is a high quality aeration set-up. I had neither - but, simply used one of my two livewells and a Rule Portable Aeration Pump w/spraybar (model 202K). It was all I had, at the time. It would suffice to keep the majority of the Shad alive, for a period of time. And I would use the dead & injured/dying ones as "chum". Once they got down to a low number, I would just go cast net more. Because of the size of bait I wanted, and the availability of those sizes was seasonal ... I used the smaller mesh net in the Spring to early Summer, to capture the ones for Crappie - and the larger mesh net in the late Summer to Fall period, for the other species.

Cast netting is fun and exciting, aggravating and frustrating, all rolled into one ... :D Should you decide to use this method and equipment, I can walk you thru the technique of "throwing/casting" a cast net. And with a little "backyard practice", you'll be good to go. :p ........ luck2ya ...cp

[J White]

crappiepappy, don't know about the others on here, but I personally
would like to see an article on throwing a cast net... I've got a little one,
and have used it some, but realize I'm probably not doing it right.
At lease I hope there is an easier way! Jeff

[rango]

in my bait tank, which i use for striper fishing, ill take a few bags of ice and soons i put the bait in the tank, ill take a gallon zip loc bag and fill it full of ice and drop it in the tank. afterawhile ill check it and dump the water out and put more ice in it. dont dump the melted water in the tank. dump it overboard. put another bag of ice in the tank. after several bags, the water will be pretty cool, and after that just add an occaasional bag and you wont have no problem with the baits dying on you. cool water keeps the bait alive..

[kunes]

Here's a tip for chilling water in a bait tank or elsewhere that was shared with me. Take a 2 liter PET bottle and add 1 pint of rubbing alcohol. Fill with water, replace the cap and freeze. The alcohol keeps the water from expanding so much while freezing that it won't crack the bottle or cap. If you have a deep freeze (chest freezer etc) the container will get down to below zero and still be in good shape. Throw the frozen container in the water and when it thaws just refreeze. When I go out crappie fishing I put one of those containers in the cooler and when I start catching fish I just add enough water to cover the fish. They will stay cool all nite. You can also use the 1 part alcohol to 3 parts water mix in a ziplock bag. After the bag is frozen seal it in a foodsaver bag. It will make a great "Ice pack" for those soft sided coolers.

[ShilohRed]

crappiepappy, don't know about the others on here, but I personally
would like to see an article on throwing a cast net... I've got a little one,
and have used it some, but realize I'm probably not doing it right.
At lease I hope there is an easier way! Jeff

Jeff I have a CD that shows you how to throw a cast net. And anyone can throw one using this method.
I will try to make a copy and put it in the boat. And the first time we meet up. I will give it to you. Makes it so easy you will wonder why it was ever hard to start with.

Pete

[J White]

Great! I knew there must be some trick to it I didn't know. That little
cheepie 4' I got wears me out! I should have payed more attention when
I was on the coast all those years, used to see guys up past their waist
in the water, throwing what must have been 10-12 footers for shrimp and
mullet, but for the life of me, couldn't remember how they did it. Thanks, Jeff