# catching shad for bait?



## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

i was walking through a creek today and saw a whole school (>50) of really awesome looking shad - about 3-4" long - would've made terrific catfish and striper bait... does anyone know how to catch these things? i pulled out every color marabou jig i had (1/32 and 1/16oz brown, green, black, white) and could not even get them to look at it. they were actively feeding off bits of something on the floor of the creek. tiny curly tails and a 1/16oz kastmaster had equal effect. 

could you catch them with a sabiki rig? (would that even work?) and is it legal to use these bad boys for bait?


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## BigFishHunter (Dec 14, 2011)

Legal as bait, but they don't bite lures. You need a net to get them.


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## Slyfly76 (Mar 9, 2013)

Cast net them little suckers, and if you've never thrown a cast well that's a treat all on its own. Not!


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## BG Slayer (Feb 17, 2013)

shiners feed on algie and things like that gotta get a cast net


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

Cast net is the way to go.


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

sigh, i was really hoping y'all wouldn't say that - i really like to pack light. i usually just roam around with my two rods and my backpack on. the prospect of carrying a cast net just doesn't sound great. I had hoped I could get away with catching a dozen or so of them and just sticking them in a bag for later use...

not to mention these things look kinda hard to use and run a bit expensive


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Shad are running thick at the creek mouths, like you said "Catfish Dinner" size, 3-5". These bigger ones tend to stay alive much longer then the juvenile's (1-2") and are downright excellent bait for big gamefish.

I pack a castnet and a flow-through minnow bucket in a collapsable cooler (has a strap for easy carrying), not that bad of a haul when offset with the tremendous rewards them live snacker sized shad often bring.


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

the only thing ive ever caught them on was nite crawler, i caught 15 of them one afternoon. was kinda supprized never caught them before like that, i always cast net them and ive never caught any sense that day think it was a rare thing


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

Just find the smallest diameter castnet you can find.


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## damrat (Feb 26, 2011)

For cast nets google them online many vendors with a rangr of prices I throw a 4 foot got for 44 bucks will pack im a small coffe can Dave


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