too much bait under you?

[river scum]

another member(tater) brought this up and i had the same question last week, while fishing. so ill run it past you all in the know.



as usual we searched for signs of life on the finder, for a place to set up for the night. found fish, and the bite was good for the first hour or two. then the shad moved in hard. there were fish popping and slashing threw the light and all around us. the screen went black from 2-16ft down(over 30fow). it was clearly a feeding frenzy! we had a fair bite till the screen blacked out from bait and fish! the bites came slow after that even though we were in the middle of the frenzy. my thought is i had too much bait under us for the crappie to find our minnows. the rod with the best action was one with a large glow jig and minnow but even that wasnt hot.

do you guys think larger bait(say 2" gills), or a rattle, or maybe bigger glow jigs would up the chances of being seen/bit? maybe i should use multiple hooks and baits? we are allowed three, per line, in indiana. what are your thoughts on this? i even tried a jigging rapala. i didnt have any flash lures with me but will next time.

[jusanothajoe]

If you can catch some of the shad with a bait net and use them for bait your catch ratio will improve

[river scum]

not legal in indiana, so i cant. believe me i thought about it. lol i cast net shad in he river for catfish cut bait. laws states you cant use them live.

[skiptomylu]

Really? You can't use live Shad? Wow that is a new one for me. I have had them so thick that they run into my line using braid, I jerk and every once in a while I foul hook one and he's going on as bait next thing. I am thinking the fish most likely would have been at or near the bottom of the shad so that would be where I put my bait. If you have Rosy Red Minnows up there I would use them if possible!

[Eager Beaver]

try a cast master and use something that is different so they will notice it in all the bait. EB

[Wind Knot]

The crappie are at the edge of the bait ball, rather than the middle of it. I'd cast a bobber and minnow some distance from the light and move it in until you start hooking up.

[river scum]

a flash lure will be one rig ill try next time beaver.

tried casting out away also with no luck. fish were chasing and hitting on the surface as well as below. we had hits at 16ft as well as 4ft. fish were even hitting the boats hull! going out again tonight and trying some different stuff. buddy has a light stick trick that has worked great at dusk for us. the light stick rig seemed to be too much after dark though usually.

wish i ghad some of those thumpit jigs in your sig., skip. i bet those would help.

[TNAMBUSHER]

if they catch you with a live shad on the hook, tell them you were trying to drown it first....