Hey guys I am looking for info on keeping live shad. I know they are super hard to keep alive. I tried this summer and didn’t have very good luck. Looking for some thing that have worked for you guys. Thanks for the help guys.
To keep shad alive you’ll need moving water. If you google shad tanks, you’ll find they are all round or oval. The water pump circulates the water so the shad are always swimming.
From my understanding, they can be held for weeks like this assuming temps are low enough and the ammonia is taken out of the water.
Hope that helps a little.
They make products for takeing the ammonia out don’t they???
All you really need for that is something to agitate the water with. The pump that circulates the water can be set up to spray into the water. Two Shad…One stone.
thats a pretty tough deal there. I have heard that you need continuous flow for them to keep alive and they are so fragile that between water/flow/handling your odds are getting pretty slim. If you could get something shaped like a car innertube….. and run a serious pump you may be able to get close but might be more work than its worth…. I have never seen this but heard about it a few times. I believe more for saltwater baits but said to keep gizzard shad alive as well.
What are you using them for??? We have used them and they just do not seem to be worth the effort for live bait. Work great for dead cut bait though.
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All you really need for that is something to agitate the water with. The pump that circulates the water can be set up to spray into the water.
Sorry, Brian. No dice. Bacteria are what you need to get rid of ammonia. And unless you plan on running a big, biological filter to support the bacteria, frequent water changes are your best bet for dealing with ammonia. And considering the bio-load in most bait tanks, you’d need to be changing water quite a bit.
Agitating water does the trick for dissolving oxygen to the water.
The secret is, what you do in the first 20 minutes and it is a simple old indian trick. Throw your net catch some shad. Fill a bucket with water from where you caught your shad. Dump shad in bucket of water. Imediatly fill bucket #2. Within 4 or 5 minutes pour the water out of bucket # 1, put shad in bucket #2, and fill bucket #1 with fresh water again and within 4-5 minutes drain water out of bucket #2 and put shad in bucket #1. Keep this up changeing to fresh water a few more times. When you catch shad and put them in a container they emediatly start to crap and puke up the water, That is what kills shad in a short time. By changing the water several times they will stop messing up the water and they can live a couple days in a big bait tank. I use a bubbler and no moving water. They loose a lot of scales which plugs up your pump filters and your pump may overheat. Remember this is an old indian trick, tell no one.
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All you really need for that is something to agitate the water with. The pump that circulates the water can be set up to spray into the water.
Sorry, Brian. No dice. Bacteria are what you need to get rid of ammonia. And unless you plan on running a big, biological filter to support the bacteria, frequent water changes are your best bet for dealing with ammonia. And considering the bio-load in most bait tanks, you’d need to be changing water quite a bit.
Agitating water does the trick for dissolving oxygen to the water.
Since I’ve never tried to keep shad I really don’t have a clue and will be the first to admit it. Just going buy a guides word on Lake Texohma that had live shad for use to use as bait.
He was saying that the ammonia would dissipate out of the water if it was agitated.
I like the old Indian trick. You don’t know if they were Crow or Sioux Indians do you? 
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Since I’ve never tried to keep shad I really don’t have a clue and will be the first to admit it. Just going buy a guides word on Lake Texohma that had live shad for use to use as bait.
He was saying that the ammonia would dissipate out of the water if it was agitated.
I kept aquariums for years. Google “Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle” and you’ll learn all you could ever want to know about the topic.
See? Learning more on Ido by accident that in life by design!
Thanks Ralph! 
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