SHAD

  • Charlie Vaughan
    On the river
    Posts: 190
    September 25, 2015 at 1:54 pm #1567700

    Anybody who has good spots for shad on the st.croix river if your willing to share where you get them, or when their stacked at the allen s king plant, put the time and place on here and im sure lots of people would like to know where to go. This is just until their at the power plant for good later in the fall.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    September 25, 2015 at 3:33 pm #1567711

    Watch the seagulls. )

    sharptailer
    IGH, MN
    Posts: 161
    September 25, 2015 at 4:52 pm #1567722

    King plant was empty earlier this week,as was Anderson bay. Have seen pods by the new bridge piers. Sturgeon were scarce but the mud puppies were everywhere

    Charlie Vaughan
    On the river
    Posts: 190
    September 30, 2015 at 7:49 pm #1568490

    They should be,but does anyone know if the shad are currently at the king plant.

    FishBlood&RiverMud
    Prescott
    Posts: 6687
    September 30, 2015 at 9:54 pm #1568518

    No good sonar… Listen to bk. Watch for gulls and bait boils.
    Sonar will find them 9x faster though

    steve-demars
    Stillwater, Minnesota
    Posts: 1906
    October 1, 2015 at 10:34 am #1568590

    I was out Tuesday and caught shad right at the entrance into Andersen Bay, out near the No Wake Buoys in about 14 feet of water. They were on the inside break line from the point. I had to work for them but I got about 18 or so in about 20 minutes. Ended up catching a nice flathead and 2 channel cats up in the new bridge No Wake Zone – they love those fresh caught shad.

    Jesse Krook
    Y.M.H.
    Posts: 6403
    October 1, 2015 at 12:20 pm #1568617

    There is shad and bait balls all over ???

    In between Prescott and Kinni
    At the Kinni
    Kinni to Afton
    Afton
    Sunken Islands
    Bayport
    Power Plant
    Across from power plant
    Up by the new Bridge

    The fish like to move around, sometimes you just have to put in a little effort to find them

    Charlie Vaughan
    On the river
    Posts: 190
    October 1, 2015 at 8:11 pm #1568687

    Thank you.I hope to find them at the king plant tomorrow.

    boone
    Woodbury, MN
    Posts: 935
    October 1, 2015 at 11:00 pm #1568700
    steve-demars wrote:

    – they love those fresh caught shad.

    Steve or Anyone,

    Have you found much difference in the effectiveness between fresh caught shad and frozen shad for cats or sturgeon? I read an on-line article a year or two ago and the author claimed that fresh caught shad was much better than frozen shad. I believe the author fished for cats in a southern state. Several years ago I tried a package of vacuum packed shad that I bought from Sportsman’s Warehouse when they were still in business and I never got a bite on any of that stuff.

    Thanks,

    Boone

    Dream’n
    South St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 371
    October 2, 2015 at 7:32 am #1568715

    How do you catch the shad? Net? Small hook?
    Thanks Dream’n

    skunkboy
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Posts: 172
    October 2, 2015 at 7:39 am #1568716

    Boone…

    In my experience, the fresher the better. If it’s still flopping when I cut it, it’s as good as it’s going to be. Day old shad is OK and I do not use frozen shad.

    When you squish a shads gills with your fingers and foam comes out, it’s time to find fresh bait. It’s still usable, but not as effective.

    I have also found that the bigger a shad it, the better it will keep. I have used some 10″-14″ shad that were kept on ice for a few days and the head and fillets worked just fine. I wouldn’t even try to keep a 4″ shad that long.

    One more bit of advice…never, never, never ever buy those vacum sealed shad in stores. I’d use a gob og freshly killed minnows on a hook first (BTW, that is a good option).

    I think you might find my experience similar among most sucessful tournament cat fishermen. It’s no secret to sucess, it’s just a lot more work to keep fresh bait in the boat.

    Hope that helps. Good luck.

    L8R…Ken

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    October 4, 2015 at 7:40 pm #1568971

    For Sturgeon channels and the occasional flathead frozen shad works fine (except for this year where worms are king) but with our new cast net laws taking shad off the water isn’t allowed so I guess it’s a moot point.

    I don’t know of anyone that has ever caught anything on the vacuum sealed shad in the stores…but it must work for something(?)

    skunkboy
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Posts: 172
    October 5, 2015 at 8:47 am #1569040
    Brian Klawitter wrote:

    I don’t know of anyone that has ever caught anything on the vacuum sealed shad in the stores…but it must work for something(?)

    Coon bait for trapping…although I’m not so sure it would work for that either.

    L8R…Ken

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    October 5, 2015 at 10:12 am #1569056
    Dream’n wrote:

    How do you catch the shad? Net? Small hook?
    Thanks Dream’n

    They can be (and it’s legal)caught with a dip net but crap are they fast! First you’ll have to boat up to a ball on the surface without scaring them, then if your successful, make a quick scoop with your dip net. The fast, lucky guy will have a couple in the net.

    Me, I’ve tried the above a couple dozen times…net in net? Zero.

    Minnesota’s new cast net law isn’t perfect but it’s the only way I know of to harvest any amount of shad. I’ll see if I can locate Darren Troseth’s video.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18594
    October 7, 2015 at 8:03 am #1569374

    Minn shoreline north of Carpenters. Filthy with schools last night.

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