Shad - Hybrids - O3

[Wahoo61]

I don't know how many of you guys on here look for shad for bait, either catfish or Hybrids, but if you are like me and only get down once a week, catching bait can be more problematic than catching the Hybrids. And for Hybrid fishing that means shad in the 2-5 inch range, preferably 3-4 inch. In any event, I was hoping to get some interest from guys who use shad for bait, or other fisherman who want to help out, by starting to post either where the shad are or are not so that it might help out others and myself included.

I fished last Sunday and bait was extremely hard to come by, after about 80 nets in five different places, we only had about 20 fishable baits. We fished O3 and caught 6 or 8 wipers and lost a bunch of fish I think because of the larger baits we were using until we ran out of bait, then trolled and caught 1 Walleye and lost one.

Two weeks ago Saturday, we caught perfect sized bait in the first cove to the left out of Osage Bluff Marina and fished O3 from about 130 to 3;30 to 4. Fished until we ran out of bait. Most drifts we had 4 rods go down. One of the best days on the lake I have had. We were marking fish in 50-70 feet of water about 20 to 15 down. Fished the shad down 14 to 18 and most of the time we had 4 rods go down when we drifted over the deep water (wind was blowing 25 out of NW and trolling motor could not move us). 30 to 40 fish in 2.5 hours.

Anyway, I will try to post when I find shad and Hybrids and let you guys know. I hope you will do the same. Tight Lines!!!!!.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I wish I could help, but from what i know about shad, timing is important. They, according to those in the know, say that shad spend the night at the shoreline and then move to open water to feed. I'm sure the middle of a cove could be open water, but giving them time to get there might be a critical point. very early morning searches might be, too early?

[Bird Watcher]

^{Hey Wahoo, I appreciate your reports. I was up there before the 4th and was catching them fairly easily in the little pocket on the West side of KK island. I went back up there on Saturday and caught them in the cove immediately South of the Fairfield Ramp. I know what you mean though. I always feel like I get lucky when I catch them.}

[Wahoo61]

Thanks for the post. I am going Sat Sun and I will post whatever I am able to find or not find. In the spring we fish below the dam and catch bait on Ozarks. In the past we had always gone on Ozarks and caught bait to fish on Truman. Given the new regs you are not supposed to take bait from Ozarks to Truman so trying to figure out the main lake thing. what size were you catching?

[Bird Watcher]

Hey Wahoo,

They were the perfect 4-7" shad. The deal is, I wouldn't see them flip. I would have to cruise around with my glasses on and the sun at my back and then I would see the dark spot about 2' deep and then hopefully I would see a flash to let me know how big they were. There were also some super jumbo 8-10" shad and some micro 1-2" shad, so I waited until I saw the flash until I threw. Typically it took me about 30 minutes of crusing around to find the right size, but I'd have all I needed in one throw. Saturday it was much tougher because the rec boaters had the shallows all churned up and visibility was reduced to about 2". There were also a ton of shad in 12-20' out on the flats south of KK, but I couldn't get my 6' radius net down to them. That's weird because I've caught them 20' deep with it before, but for some reason I could not catch them that deep the other day.

[Wahoo61]

Thanks BirdWatcher. I did not get down today going early in AM. Was not sure from your post if you were catching them around the fairfield ramp or KK. I will post what we find tomorrow when I get back. Tight Lines!

[Bird Watcher]

Caught the shad again yesterday in the cove just south of the fairfield ramp. I just picked up a 14' diameter net and I was able to get it over the top of a school. I caught 90 in one throw and went fishing. The best thing working for me is to get with the sun at my back and drift with the wind in an area that I've seen a few flips. If I do that 2 or 3 times, it seems like I can drift up in range of a school before they dive and get my net over the entire school.

[Wahoo61]

Thanks Birdwatcher. We fished from 7 am to 8 pm yesterday. Probably ran 50 plus miles up and down the lake looking for hybrids and shad. Made two runs to Osage Bluff. No shad around KK.. O3 was a blank, Airport was a blank, Cemetary was a blank. KK island was a blank. Caught the first wiper about 5. Caught 9 total in two to three hours, lost 4 or 5 more. Caught shad in the first cove out of Osage Bluff on the left. Lots of fry shad, earlier there were 7 inch plus shad with a few 3-5 inchers in there, had to cull. Went back and found one school of perfect size shad and never saw another. Got enough bait for the evening fish. Fished G4 in 42-44 feet of water about 14 down. Lots of catfish activity stealing and mauling baits.

Where is the Fairfield ramp? Tight Lines. Lee.

[Bird Watcher]

Hey Lee, it is the access up in the Pomme arm behind Indian island. Actually I just looked at it again and I've been catching them in the little pocket to the east of the ramp, not South. I guess I was a little turned around. If you look at google maps and find where K hwy turns north off of 83 before the bridge on the pomme arm, you'll see the access behind the island there. nice report. We had a slow day on Saturday, but did manage 18 hybrids. It really seemed a lot slower than that though. They were really finicky and lite biting. All of ours were suspended in 30-35 fow about 15-20' down. Just kind of scattered with one here and one there over the break between the flat and river channel. some by KK, some north of the bridge and some at O3.

[Bird Watcher]

_{Went Saturday. Caught our shad again by Fairfield in the two pockets East of the ramp. Had 80 in two throws. Found out after we hit the water that one of the trolling motor batteries was RIP. Headed to Warsaw Wal-Mart and picked up another one and then we decided to just launch at Shawnee Bend since it was now Noon. Ended up with about 20 hybrids and two blues. Unbelievably light bite. They felt like crappie or white bass nibbling at our shad. Easily had as many come off the hook as we landed. Had a 15 minute flurry at sunset and picked up another 5-6 fish on topwater. We left because we were unsure of the storms pressing down on us, but they were biting when we left at 8.}