How To Find Winter Shad

[ten_scoach]

I am trying to learn how to find schools of winter shad.....and the crappie. Can anyone help with advice on how to find these baitfish? Am I looking for channel swings, bluffs, etc? Are there any good places to start looking? I have basic electronics that should work. Next question is once you find them can you mark them with a buoy? How far will they move over the course of an hour? Thanks. Looking forward to learning winter tactics.

[Dutch]

I see lots of them in the mouths of creeks and in pockets along bluffs. I have never been able to catch crappie from them so I can't help with that.

[bfishn]

Shad make fall & winter movements just like in spring. As temps drop they leave their main channel summer locations to gather near the mouths of bigger creek arms. There's a brief (2-3 week) "run" to the back end of the creeks, on the WR lakes it begins at 52deg and ends at 48. Stockton should be the same. Then it's back to the creek mouths until the first real taste of wintertime water, (~45deg), then back to the main channel.

Even in winter, shad are always roaming. The fish that eat them are a different story (except for stripers et al). They occupy places of ambush where deep shad often pass, waiting for the next opportunity to feed, relocating only if they have to. Cover on outside bend bluffs that fall to the deepest water nearby holds a lot of fish in the dead of winter. It's a good idea to check several such locations before settling on one, winter winds and currents (even a snail's pace) can create conditions that favor one spot over the others.

(If you can find an active spring in ~30fow, the above doesn't matter much.)

[Feathers and Fins]

If you are looking for shad on Beaver its a no brainer right now White River from Hickory creek up both arms they are all over... Problem is they are deep, getting them is a little more difficult but 5 #10 to 14 treble hooks with a weight at the bottom of the line and them spaced above it every foot you could snag a few just be gentle when doing it.

[laker67]

If you are looking for shad on Beaver its a no brainer right now White River from Hickory creek up both arms they are all over... Problem is they are deep, getting them is a little more difficult but 5 #10 to 14 treble hooks with a weight at the bottom of the line and them spaced above it every foot you could snag a few just be gentle when doing it.

What's the limit and how do they fry up?

[Feathers and Fins]

No clue but they do make my garden grow

[packersooner]

Good advice up to this point! As for throwing a buoy out, it can certainly serve as a good point of reference when you are out in open water. I'll even do this if marking/using waypoints on the GPS. The shad will move some, but the buoy(s) are a helpful point of reference.

About the only negative I'll throw out there (pun intended) regarding buoys is reaching over the side of the boat to retrieve them. Going overboard this time of year can be a a death wish.

Jason