Shad Show - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

MarshCappa · 05-20-2007, 09:32 PM

Wading in Duxbury late this morning and WHAM 2 feet in front of me these fish are busting all over. Scared the b-jesus out of me. They were shad. They didn't take anything I offered and needless to say I didn't have these shad darts i've heard about. They put on quite a show for 30 or so minutes. I moved and started catching micros. Anyone no anything about Shads? Other than darts what do they take? 1st time I've seen them that close.

Clammer · 05-21-2007, 01:01 AM

Got three the other night in a place i,ve been fishing >. just about 20 years ........ never caught one there before ....

anything small //

small rubber , metal . even F/W small swimmers

Rappin Mikey · 05-21-2007, 06:46 AM

Willow leafs will work almost as good as darts. That 36# fish I caught in April had a 21" shad in it's belly. Something must have been chasing those shad to have them bust the surface like that. The shad aren't feeding this time of year. The reason why they hit is pure aggression towards the dart.

Raven · 05-21-2007, 07:06 AM

they kinda fight like trout.... ya have ta piss em off tho...

just enough.. and those mini shad darts you sometimes cast many times

before you hook up.... we'd anchor in the river and let the darts wiggle

in the current and after awhile wham... up at Hadley

those itty bitty darts in several colors...work pissah.

2na · 05-21-2007, 07:35 AM

I caught hickory shad one night on a back beach. They were breaking out all over the place and I thought that they were schoolies, but they wouldn't take my swimmer. I tied a fly out in front of the swimmer I was using and the show was on! They'd take the fly and when they felt the hook would come 3-4 feet out of the air. Soft mouths - I had to loosen my drag to next to nothing or it would tear out.

I livelined one for a couple of hours with no success.

Nebe · 05-21-2007, 07:46 AM

I always keep 2 or 3 cocohoe minoes in my surg bag incase i run across a pack of schoolies, so when i run across shad, i take the cocohoes and cut them in half and slide them on a small jighead. Its not perfect, but it works..

RIROCKHOUND · 05-21-2007, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebe

I always keep 2 or 3 cocohoe minoes in my surg bag incase i run across a pack of schoolies, so when i run across shad, i take the cocohoes and cut them in half and slide them on a small jighead. Its not perfect, but it works..

Thats why I carry a 4x 4/0 treble w/ me as well

Steve K · 05-21-2007, 11:38 AM

A few years back I caught several large shad, about 8 pounds, on the Merrimack using storm wildeyes. I believe that they were american shad rather than hickory shad.

riverrat2 · 05-21-2007, 11:45 AM

If you cought a 8lb hickory it would be a world record by about 4 pounds I believe. Marshcappa most likely saw american shad apposed to hickories.

Salty · 05-21-2007, 12:30 PM

anything small will work, kastmaster ,crappie jigs, teasers.

MarshCappa · 05-21-2007, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverrat2

If you cought a 8lb hickory it would be a world record by about 4 pounds I believe. Marshcappa most likely saw american shad apposed to hickories.

Yea I'd say they were the American. Do Shad stick around the entire season? I've never really targeted them before but have heard local guys talk about them all the time. We have rivers here where guys get really psyched for the Shad run and they get here weeks before the stripers. Are they good to eat and what's the size limit?

nautibuoys · 05-21-2007, 08:57 AM

Shad darts, willow leafs and anything with a small gold hook. In fact, a couple small gold hooks themselves behind a dart or other jig will catch shad...

Joe · 05-21-2007, 09:21 AM

Cocahoes....got a picture of shad that took a Cocahoe someplace...
I was on Block in June about 10 years ago and shad washed up alive - I got in a beef with a blackbacked seagull over my wish to liveline it and his to eat it...

ThrowingTimber · 05-21-2007, 09:45 AM

A simple white bucktail teaser will work to catch shad. From there you can add a little yellow a little flash etc etc. If you tie, try tying "blondes" or "blondies" in various colors, they're a pretty simple tie.

SirWinston · 05-21-2007, 10:59 AM

I landed a (hungry?) shad on a 1/2 oz bucktail with cocohoe tail yesterday. It bypassed the teaser ahead of the bucktail (which is what I had caught all my shad on this year) - surprised the hell out of me.

I've managed a couple of schoolie/shad double headers this year, which is new for me. I wouldn't have thought that they would run together....