Threadfin Shad 101

[Ketchn]

A Better understanding of how threadfin shad live their lives will help you better understand and locate crappie in environments where the threadfin is the primary food source.
So let’s never mind the rest of the year in their lives and focus on what happens as the water chills down in the fall and winter.
For those of you that follow my posts you often see a cheap graph set on regular ole Pepperidge farm settings . You will also notice we are often sitting on huge schools of baitfish in what is considered deeper water in the areas we frequent.
Inside of those baitballs are large numbers of crappie as well , but here in lies the difficult thing for most to understand, them herds of crappie inside them herds of Shad are very disappointing and rarely bite .
So fast forward to the fish that are likely to bite when this occurs and why.
Around 60 to 65 degree water temps causes a panic among the Shad to start looking for warmer water, at around 55 this panic turns into some of them are NOT going to survive the chill .
Later in the year when the water hits around 50 the panic somewhat declines as they die off in herds , but that is later in the year and I will touch that subject soon as well.
Now the really tricky part is finding the crappie that are susceptible to being caught when this occurs. As the Shad get weaker due to their food source dwindling ( they filter feed on blooms of algae and such ) there starts a situation where they move all over the place , some go really shallow , some go really deep and they often run up creeks as well in search of food and warmer water .
The other day we targeted the first Shad to move close to the bottom near rocks to try to avoid the chill down ,coupled with staying in a somewhat sheltered area that the wind was blowing into.
The crappie in turn were there to cash in on the buffet of weakened Shad that were amongst the many rocks on the bottom and ambushing the weaker Shad that were getting pushed to that area in the wind and hugging the bottom.
Wind direction is really important during this time of year and so is watching the water temperature. A lightly windblown shore with sun warmed rocks at a water temperature of about 55 or slightly higher will be flat full of big slabs in a lake where Shad are the primary food source.
Pitching a jig the size and color of the Shad in the area and slow rolling it from shallow to deep across the bottom will work very well, keep in mind this about that , if you fail to ketch crappie using these tips I am not responsible and subject to changing my story at any given time
P.S. for you bank folks the opposite presentation of the jig will also frequently work if you don’t mind the chilly wind in your face

[DockShootinJack]

Great tip as always

[SuperDave336]

I love it when professor Ketchn teaches. Smart fella would pay close attention to the professor of Kaboom.

[Les Young]

Nice tip. Thanks Wind blown banks in winter are how we find a lot of striper where like you said it pushes the shad to them.

[Centurion]

Thank You

[Slab Apprentice]

Good write up Ketchn!


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[Grainraiser]

Don't be surprised if crappie is not your only catch when shad are being pushed up the banks. White bass will certainly be on the scene. At my local lake they will be so thick that they change the water color. They look like a huge shadow in the water.

[Danny Lang]

Ketchn you da man.

[Ketchn]

Don't be surprised if crappie is not your only catch when shad are being pushed up the banks. White bass will certainly be on the scene. At my local lake they will be so thick that they change the water color. They look like a huge shadow in the water.

No doubt, we often encounter flathead kitty fish in a lake that has no striped fish and largemouth too