Weathers has tracked shad's nocturnal movements in the summer. If anybodies struggles to catch shad this may give you … 20 Secrets to Help You Catch Fish All Summer Long. Bait up with fresh cut shad and you’ll almost always catch fish but don’t be afraid to mix in some live shad also during the late summer. It is usually tough to find one particular flat that has a huge population of bass so you have to run a lot of creeks to find enough structure to pattern and catch several bass keying on shad. Summer gets a little tougher but I usually catch them before daylight around marina lights and in the mouth of creeks and coves. Starting in late summer or early fall shad flock to the flats in the back of creeks and tributaries. Gizzards don't seem to do well at more the 40 ft for some reason, but this time of the year, if you are willing to go the hassle, hard work and trouble you can catch very nice fish on gizzards. Learn how to successfully pattern, locate and catch shad all year long on any body of water. In summer andwinter, stripers and hybrids move to deep water following shad. "We wait until evening to net shad - as soon as it's real dark they move into shallows and coves en mass." Ok, some gizzard shad info for you guys. Baitfish Activity: Shad Packs. During thesetimes, use a fish-finder to probe deep-water habitat for big fish holdingbeneath shad schools. This focuses mainly on four fishing spots, though there are a few more that contain exclusive fish. Shad are oily and impart a strongcatfish-attracting scent to the water. Once shad school up in a fall pattern, they will stay … I know I’ve never seen pods of shad on the St.Croix with a depth finder until late summer. Shad often areused to catch catfish in dam tailwaters. Shad may be caught for food and sport, but they’re also used as bait fish for larger catches like blue catfish, bass, or stripers. A typical American Shad weighs in at 2 to 5 pounds. Sometimes the best way to catch them is to hang a light over the side of the boat and just drift in the open water. An in depth guide that covers everything you need to know about locating and catching shad in simple to follow step by step detail based on first hand experience. FP figured it out that they will hit a tiny fly without bait right on the bottom. The bottom line is that you can catch your own shad in the cold water period, you just need to use the right tools to catch them, you need to be in the right location and you need to put forth a little extra effort to catch them. The Threadfin Shad is very sensitive to temperature changes and dissolved oxygen. Shad spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries (American, Feather, Yuba) in late spring and early summer. Shad kills are frequent in late summer and fall, especially when the water temperature drops to 42 °F.