Another first

[basswipe]

Was fishing with Crafty last night and we(actually he,I only got one) did alright.
Lots of bait(4-5"herring) and birds working.Crafty got several bass.

Anyways he caught something I'd never seen around here before and it was huge compared to the ones I've seen elsewhere.But I'll let him tell ya what it was.

PS.Crafty...how'd the groceries make out?And were them hotdogs good?

[Crafty Angler]

Well, I'm still not sure, BW, but I think it was a hickory shad

I don't often get them, last one I got was probably 10 years ago - but then I don't target them, either - Uncle Zeke hits that spot a lot in the Spring looking for them. They're more of a rarity in our area -

I dunno, I've gotta check my Dentons to be sure - it really did look like a little tarpon, didn't it? About 17 or 18" on that little Kurokin Megabait.

And yeah, they are edible, but you've gotta bone 'em first -

I returned to the scene last nite but the herring flew the coop and so did the little bait - I did manage to pick up one 26" fatty on a mini black Mambo and that was it...

I'll take a break today - my next target there is gonna be TOG but it's May 15 today - so be on the lookout for squeet there soon

Oh yeah, my diet the last few nites has been freakin' splendid - weinies Friday and midnight French bread pizzas last night

[basswipe]

I took my break lastnight.Gonna give it a shot tonight as long as its not to crappy out.

My waders are back in action and I'll definitely bring the lighter rod and add a few smaller plugs to the bag this time.

[Nebe]

nice crafty

i get them once in a while on teh SO-CO beaches.

[bart]

i saw some guys getting big hickory shad at a well known early season spot the other day

[GBOUTDOORS]

Crafty I got one last night mixed in with a school of a few thousand stripers. Got it on Ledgerunner split tail and it must have been all of 20" to 21". Wish the big fish had been around what a great large fish bait. Bliz was with me and he saw a few flashing around the boat.

[basswipe]

I had never seen one around here before or that big either.

When I was in the USAF and was stationed in TX we often used threadfin and hickories as bait but they were nowhere near the size of the one Crafty caught.

[Mike P]

Sure sounds like a hickory shad to me, Crafty. We get a lot of them down here---guys like to chunk them for weakfish bait

They actually are a lot of fun to catch on light tackle. Some call them a "poor man's tarpon".

[birdogtobi]

we have a real good hickory shad run in the niantic river most people use shad darts or twisty grub tails. we use them to chunk for the big boy stripers.

[devils fiddle]

we get them pretty thick in the mystic river. excellant big fish baits. usually fishem live like you would with herring or bunker.
shad=big bass

[cheferson]

There was a ton in so.co last spring for a good month, all jumbos. Got them on cocahoes and shad darts with tiny pork rinds. Fun as hell catching them when there jumping out of the water when you reel em in.

[Fish On]

How about a picture?