Sunday, June 29, 2008

Shad : The Natural Bait That Most Lures Imitate!

In my very last article"Hot Summer Time Bass Fishing Techniques" I made a
statement that one of the reasons bass are harder to catch during the hot summer time weather, Is because the bait fish hatch ( or the shad ) is just the right size for the bass to eat. This means that there is plenty of bait fish , and bass become wary of artificial lures. They see a lot of natural prey and artificial lures just don't look right to them.

So I might just add that a bass fisherman might just have more success if he or she uses shad for bait. Wow , that is making sense to me, how about you? Anyway, when you start looking around the bait shops, you will probably find, that very few bait shops ( if any ) even have shad for bait. So now what?

That only leaves= catching your own shad. Now if you figure out how to catch them on a pole , let me know. Good Luck! I guess you have figured out by now that I am stretching a big yarn and pulling your leg! So True!

You have to go purchase a shad net, unless you already have one. THEN, you
have to learn how to throw a net so that it fans out in a pretty circle, and then
you have to locate the shad in order to net them. Now that sounds easy, doesn 't
It?

WRONG! Unless you already know how to throw a net and locate the shad, it
just might surprise you how difficult this can be. Finding the shad isn' t that tough.
One down and NOW , to throw the net! ; - ( HA ! have I got a story to tell you. If your a veteran netsman then you can remember your first experience with the shad net. If your not a veteran, Do I have a clue for you? You bet ya! Well that should get the veteran netsman to laughing , but it will definitely get the newbie netsman a little worried. (Netsman) is that even a word? This is my blog and I say its a word. Now that , thats settled .I just have one word to say, 3 times ,. Practice! Practice! Practice!
Last year, I finally broke down and bought a shad net. A 5 ft net. now that doesn' t sound too bad except when this 5 ft net fans out it is 10 ft across! HA! My friend Leo, and I went to the lake and decided to try this , what WE thought , being macho men of course, would be an easy task to conquer. AGAIN I say WRONG! Murphy's law was in full swing , and we hung that @#$%%$ = net on everything that was in the boat , and out of the boat , and for the first hour I am not really sure we even got the net wet, let alone around some shad. HA ! HA! HA! although at the time is wasn' t that funny. Anyways, enough of that nonsense, I think you get the picture!

Now for bass, shad about the size of a nice size crank bait, will do the trick. Pretty much the same for cat fish too. Now for Stripers and Hybrids 5- 7 inch shad are the best. Some striper fishermen like even bigger shad. Now trying to catch shad that fit the 5-7 category is a pretty tough job. I have read several articles and they recommend a gallon or two of water for each 5-7 inch shad. Good aeration. and cooler water not more than 10 degrees cooler than the water you get them from, as they will go into shock and die. Rounded holding tanks with about a cup of salt for every 20 gallons to ensure not to destroy the shads slime covering.

If you don't know how to throw a shad net, don't feel lonely. Neither did I ! So I found this pretty neat video on how to throw a net and I have included it just below this post. I hope using shad to catch those bass, catfish, stripers, wipers, and even a walleye or two helps you to become more successful with your summertime fishing. Remember shad is the #1 bait fish for almost all
of the different types of that you might try to take at the lakes and on the rivers.

Keep your hooks wet, fish and boat safely , enjoy the" Great Outdoors"
make sure you watch this video and believe me it WILL help. I didn't even realize
that a shad net could be so easy to throw with the right instruction. See you out there, Good Luck! and try to stay untangled from your shad net if you can! HA! HA! ; - ))

Video On How You are Suppose To Throw The Shad Net! Believe me when I say this isn't exactly the method or the luck I had my first time ! ; - ( A hard hat might be advised!

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