How To Catch Fish Feeding On Shad Schools?

[podum]

I love 1/2 oz casting spoons. Like the cabelas real image spoon. You can stay back and throw them a mile. Keep rods rigged up with a spooks and a lightly weighted sassy shad, and as you ease in while casting the spoon, start throwing the other baits.

[Wayne SW/MO]

The most popular rig in OK on Texoma was a Babe Oreno or a small Lucky 13 with the front hook removed and 12"-16" piece of mono with a white jig on it. Generally both were white.

[Al Agnew]

It sounds like the best thing is to have something that suspends just beneath the shad school. I haven't fished shad schools in a long time, but I wonder what a small suspending jerkbait would do. Cast it past the school, reel it to where it's in the vicinity, then pause it and twitch it now and then. Just an idea.

[fishinwrench]

It sounds like the best thing is to have something that suspends just beneath the shad school. I haven't fished shad schools in a long time, but I wonder what a small suspending jerkbait would do. Cast it past the school, reel it to where it's in the vicinity, then pause it and twitch it now and then. Just an idea.

Looks good on paper, I agree. But seldom pays off

Anytime you have tons of the real thing to compete against for a bite it's gonna be a low odds gamble.

Some say to use something bigger/smaller/brighter than the prevalent baitfish, others say to match the hatch. Flip a coin cuz neither is anything even close to a reliable strategy.

The closest thing to a reliable method for catching shadball stalking fish is to wait until they blitz and throw ANYTHING in the middle of them. Then wait until they blitz again. If you keep throwing at them when they aren't excited enough to chase then you are probably just teaching the fish what NOT to bite when the urge to gorge strikes them.

[J-Doc]

That's about the best advice given I think.

[TheBeardedTay]

I always try to match my bait to what the bass are feeding on. It's beginning to be a good ol' frog time as the grass growth is peaking. For now I've been throwing some sort of plastic, texas rigged, like the Yum 7" Ribbontail worm, my color preference is Tequila Sunrise. A good shallow crank in shad pattern can work wonders as well. I've been successful when casting direct into the disturbance, or if it's near a bank or a shallow area with a drop off, I cast slightly past and try and mimic an injured shad to provoke the strike. A friend advised the white bass were feasting on a spoon up at Stockton this past weekend. Said it was plentiful, but within a small window. Sticking with something the bass can react to, based on water ckarity/conditions will usually be your best bet.