Another first

[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.