shad everywhere

[redcrbbr]

out on the boat with canalman and his girl last nite. shad jumping all around the boat. didn't have any small metal with us..
i'd love to throw a few in the livewell and put em to work

SO HOW DO YOU CATCH THE DARN THINGS?????

[rwilhelm]

shad darts work well

[jettyjockey18]

small spinners (a black beetle spin is my favorite)...small metals (1/4 oz) like castmasters work as well...tie on a small teaser and double your pleasure...

[GaryK2]

also willow leafs

[Jenn]

how do you cast a 1/4 cast master with a ten foot rod???

the darts work in the river.....I'd give it a try! Shad are such a big deal here in the spring you can find darts in so many sizes and colors it will make your head spin! good luck! (did I also mention they ARE fun to catch too??)

[ThrowingTimber]

We've been picking them up on sebaki rigs. Look for the marathon ones with the little shrimp on them. They're the least expensive yet most effective I've found, 2 oz bucktail on the bottom of the rig, cast and bring them in Reaaaallll slow, you dont want to fight them toooo much they are fragile and wont live long at all in your livewell if you fight them too hard. Rigs, most are one time use sort of deal cause when they tangle they TANGLE. Bring a small hand net and keep the fish in the water when netting dont pull them up, again you want to be real gentle, loose drag etc let work themselves to the boat.

To liveline them without having any issues with gut hooking, we've found it best to rig a 3 foot fluro leader, with a large treble on one end and swivel on the other, one hook of the treble under jaw and out notril thinggie. That way two remaining hooks just lay flat on the chops. Causes the least amount of damage to the fish. eventually if they kick you can grab another from the well or yo-yo jig 'em.

There are plenty of rigs out there I've personally used marathon and can speak well of their performance.

Best of luck! Its fun catching those critters! Ultra light hook set if any at all, retreive in more of a steady drag, not soo much of a rod twitch more of a pull to the side every couple full turns, the idea is the keep tension on the line jigging the rigs they go slack and you'll miss the lil critters.

[Bill L]

Red, you can also use regular schoolie stuff like small rubber on jigs heads. I often fish a 3/8 oz gotcha jig with a 4" sluggo, fin-s, cocahoe etc. and catch as many shad as bass when they're around. Small plain bucktail jigs also work good

[Clammer]

M_80,S

[shore manic]

digger, you have a crazy sense of humor, lmao! my dad who's 79 yrs.old was a driller and blaster. remember when i was young he used to take me to the job in rhody and push the plunger. think he blew up half of R.I. on roadwork.oh, and the glumpies and beer made for quite a lunch!!!

[fishweewee]

they'll go for anything small and glittery

1) small rubber with glitter
2) small bucktails tied with krystal flash
3) tiny tins
4) if you're a flyrodder, clousers tied with a lot of flash

think flashy and glittery

love those poor man's tarpon!

did i mentioned they are killer live bait for bass?

[Mr. Sandman]

In a pinch, just put a sw fly on as a dropper with your regular sw spinning gear, and reel it slow.