# Too many shad??



## debard (Nov 9, 2011)

Is this possible? Usually in the fall I do very well fishing around schools of shad... but not today.

I was fishing a spillway and the shad were thicker than I've ever seen, but I couldn't get a bite. I was snagging them every few casts. Mainly targeting saugeye, I tried running a rat-l-trap & a spinner bait around the schools. Nothing. Blade baits, Joshys, and cranks in ever color imaginable. Nope! I even scooped up some of the shad and put them on a bottom rig, under a bobber, and even floated them on top with a floating jig head. Still nothing.

Has anyone ever experienced this? :S


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Key thing for me when the shad are thick like that is "matching the hatch" (I.E. use a lure that looks identical to shad, cough, hint, shadraps) and mimicking exactly what they (shad) are doing. Alot of times it comes down to presentation, when fish are busting shad packs they usually only tend to hit finesse presentations, anything else they usually snub.

Outside of all that there are days when the fish are simply full, and no matter what you do, or how much bait is in the water, they're not going to eat. If you had no luck with live shad I'd say such was the case.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

And If the more natural presentation does not work, Try something that really sticks out. like a clown colored crank or something.... My best nite so far this fall was last weekend when the shad were the thickest ive seen them yet. 1st seen all the shad an started throwing shad style/color lures..... nothing..... Put on an ugly old orange/yellow twister and BAM started hitting em like crazy......

Another new thing i learned this yr was to make the shad scatter when you go through them(like ripping rod or what not) and make your bait the only thing left,this will sometimes trigger a bite.....

lol but like said sometimes there just not in the mood.


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## fishslim (Apr 28, 2005)

Bobby you hit the color thing on the head last night shad everywhere but only thing they would hit was Solar Flare and new Bright Lime Red Joshy 2.75 with a pink head and only wanted them laying on bottom with the tail just waggling in the current i woul pull it couple inches and let it set then giggle rod tip to make tail dance and they slammed it got fourteen in about hour and a half moved 6 times to find the ones willing to bite. Natural colors just would not cut it and water clarity was very good. Got a 23 and 21 " and rest 16-19" man that was a cold wind and rain. But there are some day especially now when they are as stated just gorged and not eating. Other issue is water temps are going up instead of down and will slow bite consideralbly. Some times current is better then bait stacked in a hole!!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

troy ALL of my swimbait fish have been on solar flare, the 2.3, Seems to me those fish really like a bait almost glowing in the water,from swimbait/twister fish to stickbaits in december,almost all the sticks I throw have either a orange belley or chartruse in the gills or something. Earlyier this year I had a nite where they only wanted a white twister,but I noticed that white twister had a good ''glow'' to it under a light I was fishing. We hit it hard last nite man. But derek did check temps before leaveing and I noteiced it had risen a degree or so(no surface temps)...... Im gonna hit something mid-day-dark tomarrow.


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## debard (Nov 9, 2011)

Just to give you an idea of the amount of shad I'm talking about, here's a short video I took today. This might be normal this time of year, but I've never seen anything like it. 

http://tinypic.com/r/11uhxlu/6

I did do a little better today using 2.75" Joshy's in lime red and a small firetiger jerkbait. Thanks for the tip


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

That's an impressive amount of dead shad. I'd probably go fish somewhere that a free buffet wasn't sitting there for all the fish to feed on.


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## timmyv (Apr 26, 2006)

debard said:


> Just to give you an idea of the amount of shad I'm talking about, here's a short video I took today. This might be normal this time of year, but I've never seen anything like it.
> 
> http://tinypic.com/r/11uhxlu/6
> 
> I did do a little better today using 2.75" Joshy's in lime red and a small firetiger jerkbait. Thanks for the tip


Where is this? I would love to fill up my freezer for some catfishing next year. hahaha


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## webby (Nov 14, 2011)

Thats amazing. Never seen anything like it


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Yea thats pretty crazy! One thing though, you know if there are that many shad around, There HAS to be fish eating them around. And this should bring the confidence level up,and help you dial in while on the water!


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## streamstalker (Jul 8, 2005)

I have a feeling we have been fishing the same watershed. In the last three trips, I have run into bass busting that size shad. I have thrown more lure selections at these fish than I have ever in my life. Each trip, I've caught a 16" smallie on a different lure, but other than that, I only caught a couple dinks. I went with a partner one day, and he got skunked. 

Smallies are ambushing shad all over the place. They are schooling in the push water, boiling on the surface, jumping in the riffles, hitting your boat, hell, I even had a fat 14+ jump in the back of my kayak, I thought something horrible was happening until I heard the familiar thumping of a fish on the deck.


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## OnTheFly (Jul 30, 2010)

Experienced the same thing streamstalker is talking about today. Ended with only 4 (lost two more) in around two hours although they were absolutely whacking shad just few feet away from me the whole time. I got one on a smaller floating rapala almost right away and though it was going to an absolute killer day with how many shad I saw exploding fish. Couldn't buy a bite after that. Switched to a 2.75 slush joshy on a 1/16th jig head for the other three, which i got twitching on the drop. 

What are your guys go to methods for picky bass like this? I would normally throw a fluke but thought mine might be a bit big looking at the bait they were chasing. Also the floating rap always seems to work esp. when you stop and let it float a bit but today was tough! 

Tried to match the hatch, throw brighter colors, bigger sizes but i just couldn't figure them out today. 

Adding to my arsenal here soon to see if I can get a handle on them this weekend or hopefully tomorrow.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

OnTheFly said:


> What are your guys go to methods for picky bass like this?


Done told you what to use and how to use it, if your not getting fish your doing something wrong bro, mix up your presentation until you find a retrieve they will hit on. IMO Floating rapalas "pimp-twitched" cannot be beat, again just change up your retrieve until you start connecting with fish. My #2 go-to lure is tubes, big tubes, on a 1/16th jighead. Again a pure-finesse presentation with long pauses (mixed up with sporadic shorts jerks) is usually what triggers the bite.

Hit up several areas in search of Smalles/Eyes, leaves ran us off of the first two spots, got to the 3rd and found biblical amounts of shad. Managed a fat ol' 21" eyeball and lost another decent one in about an hour. Only way I could get them to strike a lure was slow-rolling, tried every other tactic I knew, then finally said to myself "maybe I should tune things down and slow-roll, only presentation I haven't tried yet" - I kid you not that 21" came about 5 seconds later


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

acklac7 said:


> Hit up several areas in search of Smalles/Eyes, leaves ran us off of the first two spots, got to the 3rd and found biblical amounts of shad. Managed a fat ol' 21" eyeball and lost another decent one in about an hour. Only way I could get them to strike a lure was slow-rolling, tried every other tactic I knew, then finally said to myself "maybe I should tune things down and slow-roll, only presentation I haven't tried yet" - I kid you not that 21" came about 5 seconds later


That 21 looked bigger in the net.......fat too. Fat from all the freakin shad!!!!! If slow rolling doesn't work, try lippless cankbaits, or a vibe-e.


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## debard (Nov 9, 2011)

acklac7 said:


> Hit up several areas in search of Smalles/Eyes, leaves ran us off of the first two spots, got to the 3rd and found biblical amounts of shad. Managed a fat ol' 21" eyeball and lost another decent one in about an hour. Only way I could get them to strike a lure was slow-rolling, tried every other tactic I knew, then finally said to myself "maybe I should tune things down and slow-roll, only presentation I haven't tried yet" - I kid you not that 21" came about 5 seconds later


Nice. I'm gonna have to get away from the spillways and try some new areas I think... Every time I go down there theres tons more shad and even less fish feeding on them it seems.


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## OnTheFly (Jul 30, 2010)

Ye I think I just need to size down my lures I mainly have raps in the 9 and 11 size I use for bass in shallow lakes in northern Michigan. Lost my smaller ones this summer. Need to replenish size 5 and 7s and get some more shad profile baits and I think I should start slaying.


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## debard (Nov 9, 2011)

OnTheFly said:


> Ye I think I just need to size down my lures I mainly have raps in the 9 and 11 size I use for bass in shallow lakes in northern Michigan. Lost my smaller ones this summer. Need to replenish size 5 and 7s and get some more shad profile baits and I think I should start slaying.


Come buy your Shad Raps at Gander Mtn in Hilliard 
Also, Walmart usually has a Cotton Cordell bin with mixed baits for 1.96. They're labeled "Bait Bonanza". They have some Shad Rap style lures that I've done very well on lately...


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

debard said:


> Come buy your Shad Raps at Gander Mtn in Hilliard


They dont carry ssr7's, only 5's.........and the 5's suck.......not enough action + to light imo.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Yup, they have to be the 7's. Only place that stocks them is R&R and possibly Fishermans warehouse.


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## debard (Nov 9, 2011)

Ive been throwing #5 rapalas and other small cranks. I'll make sure to size up a bit.


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## streamstalker (Jul 8, 2005)

Good luck to you, boys. Threw four or five varieties of Shad Raps along with at least a dozen other cranks and twenty other types of lures. I got one nice one on an Original Floating Minnow--on the pause. The other two I was talking about earlier came on a white spinner bait with a chartreuse trailer and a four-inch, fat style chartreuse grub.

I'm getting mad just thinking about it. I should be out there now, but I'm going to go and give it another try on Thursday.


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## debard (Nov 9, 2011)

Sizing up definitely helped... along with the water clearing up a bit. The fish were still busting on those shad tonight and I got a few nice ones to bite on a #7 Lindy Shadling. One of them is on a plate in front of me right now


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