While bass do love to eat live nightcrawlers, those insects are less common in waterways than leeches, and certainly do not behave in the bouncing, swimming way that anglers fish plastic worms. Shad take the cake, though: They have 3,000 bones, but their meat is so tasty their Latin name is sapidissima—"tastiest." Distribution: Native to the U.S. west of the Appalachian Mountains , north to Kentucky, west to East Texas, south to the Rio Grande drainage, and east to Floridian rivers, the threadfin shad have been transplanted to waters all over the U.S. Anytime I catch a shad i instantly slice em up, you gotta be crazy if you think a bass won't eat a shad :nuts: Save Share. If they slightly miss their prey on the strike, there's still a good chance they'll be able to suck in that unlucky shad or bluegill. When that visibility increases a lot of … source, Creek Fishing Adventures Today I got off work early and decided to try to find some largemouth bass in a creek that flows into Chickamauga Lake. The options are truly endless for pond bass. All work in the right conditions. When shad are abundant, these are five reliable fishing lures that will haul-in fish. The fastest bass action of the spring can occur during the brief time that shad spawn if you hit the right spots at the right times. Caught a 3 lb bass on a small Suissex spinner. How To Catch Bass In Crystal Clear Water! American shad do not care for their young besides laying and fertilizing the eggs. A fluke is a great throw-back bait when a bass is interested but unwilling to hit a speedier lure. Tim regularly contributes to numerous North American print and online publications. Equally deadly is casting a big spoon, like a Strike King Sexy Spoon, to work ledges or fan cast flats. I won a 2006 BASS Elite Series Tournament in Guntersville, Alabama, using this tactic with a Strike King Series 5 crankbait in the sexy shad color and the blue shad … During the warm months, when terrestrial insects are active, smallmouth bass will feed on those unfortunate enough to fall in the water. Shad. Baiting them with a huge chunk or live shad can do the trick. Gizzard shad grow quickly and attain a much larger size than threadfin some adults reaching 18 inches and weigh 2-pounds. Bass aggressively feed and eat anything that resembles a shad. They will naturally eat smaller fish such as minnows and shad, but given the opportunity, they will quite happily take on larger fish such as trout. Small, young shadare the principal prey of the white bass, comprising its entire diet in somewaters. Plankton, as another year-wide food source, provides nourishment for the crappie, bluegill, and shad that the bigger bass feed on. For more information visit www.timallard.ca. As they get older, American shad start to eat small fish, crustaceans, plankton, worms, and occasionally fish eggs. For that reason, they’re one of the most effective “year-round” plastics. Occasionally they eat small fish, but these are only a minor item in their general diet. George Washington was fond of the fish, and Thomas Jefferson always had it on his spring menus. Search the areas the wind blew on during the night or the night before. Subscribe for more videos like this!! He's a full-time outdoor journalist and author and photographer of the multi-award winning book, "Ice Fishing - The Ultimate Guide" (2010), which is also available in French under the title, "Pêche sur glace". Pre spawn the bass matabelism increases and the urge to feed for the spawn period kicks into high gear, now the bass are looking for high protein prey like crawdads comming out of the dormate stage and larger baitfish. They might even eat other bass. Little has been published on the feeding and care of Gizzard and Threadfin Shad in captivity. The sexually mature American shad enter coastal rivers in spring or early summer, usually when the river water has warmed to 50 to 55 °F (10 to 13 °C). What Bass Eat by Sean McNally. Bass will devour almost anything as long as it fits their mouths. When bass chase shad to the surface, fish-eating birds spot them and dive into the water to snatch morsels before the bass gulp them, or to grab cripples. Perhaps the favorite food source of adult crappie are fathead minnows. [12] They are longer and thinner. The second important inference is that bass can eat a much longer shallow-bodied prey fish, like a golden shiner, than a deep-bodied prey, like a bluegill. Why they work: The flash and wobble of a spoon is a great shad stand-in. 12 ft? Juvenile American shad eat both plants and animals, mostly zooplankton and larvae of insects. As adults, a large portion of a crappie’s diet is fish. Because of their small size and soft fins, threadfin shads are among the bass’ favorite food. All rights reserved. We know amphibians, are eaten by smallmouth bass, including lizards and frogs. They might even eat other bass. There’s really a number of different creatures that live in a pond that bass could potentially eat. Nice to see the behind the scenes. One other interesting point about shad. Wakebaits in a bluegill pattern have taken some huge fish for me; a War Eagle finesse 5/16-ounce spinnerbait and Rapala Clackin’ Rap also work wonders. too bad they're illegal in CA, That was kind of a dick thing to do at least put some water in the bucket don't let them suffer, my muskies in my pond would love you!LOL!, This contraption is so cool! Little shad are almost always bucks, and are useful for pickling. Finding schooling bass can’t guarantee fish in the boat, but anglers who pay attention and stay prepared might land several lunkers quickly in the right spot at the right time. If you plan to use them in your bass fishery, my general rule of thumb is to make sure you have at least 25% of your biomass of bass 18-inches or longer. Does their diet change based on water clarity? All pages © 2012 – 2020 BPS Direct, L.L.C. Headfirst According to Schramm, research has proven that bass eat prey fish headfirst. Shad feed mostly on plankton like other herring, but they have been known to consume shrimp, small fish and fish eggs. They can eat crayfish, frogs, baby birds, snakes, eels, shrimp, lizards, insects, and even another bass. Biologists help bass eat better by stocking forage fish such as shad, herring or alewives in a lake that doesn't have enough food to help bass grow big. Best bass video I have seen, what size throw net is that? Young-of-year shad are now about 2-3 inches long and programmed to swim en masse upstream. That doesn't count the northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and several walleyes which were intent on reinforcing the notion that now is not a good time to be a shad on the Mississippi River. Why they work: Wide-bodied crankbaits are deadly. If you do not have fish broth, use chicken broth. Given enough time, food and a suitable environment, Largemouth bass can grow to a significant size. Their food source will depend on whatever is available inside their niche. They could eat baby ducks, earthworms and birds. In a reservoir or a pond, largemouth bass do not feed on individual shad but rather engulf dozens at a time when they come up beneath a school. Go Fishing and Catch Big Crappie With Long-Line Trolling, 3 Pros Pick the Best Ice Fishing Line for You, Best New and Noteworthy Ice Fishing Lures for 2020, How to Rig a Wacky-Rigger Worm on a Drop Shot, Dependable Early Spring Crankbaits for All Game Fish (video). Largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass gorge on shad when available. It is hard to do but you can cast to the same rock or log for an entire tournament and catch all you need to win. This spinner, on a single trip, put over 500 white bass in my boat. Bighead carp typically grow larger, are less abundant, feed more exclusively on zooplankton, and do not jump. Although they are often lumped together as “Asian carp” the bighead carp and silver carp are two distinct species. Thanks for watching! In this video I show what I have been doing for almost seven years now. Shad are incredibly bloody fish, and you want that blood out of the meat. Where I live in central Georgia, that usually means the full moon in April. Do they pay attention to the lively … Pike, bass, stripers, crappies, catfish, walleyes, white bass, rockbass, trout and pickerel are notorious for their fish-gobbling tastes. Bass use the fall shad migration as a means to fatten up for the winter. They do make great bait and you can salt them and they hold up well. Threadfin and gizzard shad are common and prolific baitfish that spawn when the water temperatures reach the upper 60s at or around the time of a full moon. In this video, I show you how bass react to LIVE Minnows, underwater in their habitat. If they slightly miss their prey on the strike, there's still a good chance they'll be able to suck in that unlucky shad or bluegill. Juveniles eat more after they leave their birthplace. For this reason, I prefer shad-colored baits in the post spawn. Shad can account for up to 75 percent of a bass' diet when they are the main baitfish. How to fish it: Ultra-slow retrieves work when fish are fussy. Indeed, bass eat a lot of bass, a relatively slender-bodied fish. The maximum reported length for an American shad is 76 cm (29.9 in). Smallmouth Bass do not eat much during the Winter months, but a dying threadfin shad drifting by is tempting. Gizzard shad grow quickly and attain a much larger size than threadfin some adults reaching 18 inches and weigh 2-pounds. But when a bass eats a minnow (or shad as some are), what goes through their mind? But although shad may make up the bulk of their food, during periods of increased turbidity, crayfish intake will often increase. This rapid growth means that largemouth and smallmouth bass are able to eat shad for only a short time each spring. I provide some great commentary, and I hope you guys learn something! Striped bass like to eat schooling fish (shad) and the small school fish rise to the surface to get away from the stripers. They are best suited to warmer waters with plenty of hiding places where they can ambush their prey. Because bass are opportunistic feeders, they will naturally eat the most prevalent bait. Most of the time, however, bass do pretty well on their own. Try them the next time you're targeting shad-eating bass. Bulge it across the surface, work it along weed edges, or yo-yo it down a ledge. Key in on the shad first and then the structure. If they're not able to eat their prey headfirst, they might grab their quarry, smash it, spit it out and then ingest it headfirst. Tim Allard hails from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Good Luck n Catch a Bunch ! Would be really cool to see., I would pay huge money to fish this pond with a frog in the morning lol, Do you use any bait to attract the shad? Almost every lake, pond and river has at least some food bass will eat, because, well, bass will eat pretty much anything that comes by them. SIZE: Common length for female adult shad is 61.7 cm (24.3 in) and common length for male adult shad is 50 cm (19.7 in). Striped bass like to eat schooling fish (shad) and the small school fish rise to the surface to get away from the stripers. The American gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), also known as the mud shad, is a member of the herring family of fish, and is native to large swaths of fresh and brackish waters of the United States of America. These sites have 'thousands and thousands' of articles and videos' on all things bass fishing! This allows the gizzard shad to quickly dominate the habitat and eventually will deplete the resources that sportfish rely on. Largemouth bass will eat almost any fish they can catch, but some fish species are good at avoiding prowling bass. When you catch a shad you want to keep, bonk it on the head and pop the gills to bleed it. Now bring to a simmer some good fish broth; you will need at least a quart. The best way is to simply try each bait type until you succeed in landing a striped bass. Do you have underwater footage of this style blow ups? Watch the wind forecasts the night before arriving at the lake. Bass have a very non-discriminatory diet. Then let the shad do its thing. View more posts, I DIDNT KNOW SHAD GOT THAT BIG ! Diving gulls and other birds sometimes act as an added beacon—many water birds like shad just as well as the bass do. Gizzard shad were introduced into many lake and river systems as a source of food for game fish, such as walleye, bass, and trout, because of their small size and relatively high abundance. The fastest bass action of the spring can occur during the brief time that shad spawn if you hit the right spots at the right times. Soft plastic lure construction has been applied to many other forms as well, notably lizards and salamanders, crayfish and creature baits, frogs, tubes, and curly-tail grubs. (Plachta, 2003; Zool, ... What do they eat? They do eat and they do so efficiently. I filmed some really epic blowup videos while feeding them for this video. Reply. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. In this video, I go to a retention pond to cast net shad to feed my pet bass. They look like hickory shad but do not have quite the rounded body. Attraction to light: Threadfin are attracted to light, and at night they can be found around lighted docks. I… Bone, Pearl, and Sexy Shad are good colors. To answer that question: Yes, they do. Largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass gorge on shad when available. I have seen it happen. Crappie will feed on very young bass, perch, and bluegills along with small shiners, shad, and suckers. Spring white bassseek tributaries for spawning runs. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and top-water baits all allow you to cover a lot of water and draw violent strikes from bass. Once shad are established, they will often school near the surface late in the afternoon. News ; Hunting; Fishing; Recreation; Motorsports; Shop; Social icons. This time of year bait choices are nearly unlimited. Although finesse worms don’t offer a gaudy action or exciting appendages, they do offer bass anglers one key characteristic – they get bit all day, in any conditions, anywhere bass swim. For example, flathead catfish only feed live fish. To get started, fillet the fish as you would any other, then skin them. The same holds true in low light conditions. In 80 degree water a bass digests its food in about four hours. Little has been published on the feeding and care of Gizzard and Threadfin Shad in captivity. This time I caught a few giant shad that are great to feed to the 7-8lbers that are in my pond. Unlike bass, a shad will still feed during its mating season. Randy Yancey The bass, like you know that the shad are there and will be attracted to it as cover as well as a place to feed. They were thought to be easy food for game fish and could help increase the numbers of fish available, as well as decrease the pressures on prey species (such as the bluegill ). 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And you ’ ve found shad spawning grounds awesome vid man., Kyle, great job man the surface work! Silvery-Green coloration above fading to plain silver below … to answer that question: Yes they! Whatever is available inside their niche adult has a deep body, with small... In about four hours is a great throw-back bait when a bass digests its food in four. Flash and wobble of a spoon is a prime time to catch some nice largemouths them at a store! Man., Kyle, great job man find bass close by worth it baby ducks, earthworms and.. Can account for up to 75 percent of a jerkbait is stellar for triggering strikes! Makes them so big that most predators like bass, comprising its entire in! The game fish that follow occasionally fish eggs paint patterns to choose from when want. Exciting fishing it creates small bass, a shad is both an important commercial fish as you any... Night is truly a good time to catch some nice largemouths vid man., Kyle, great job.. 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Inside their niche baitfish and tadpoles or shad as some are ) what... To vertically jig over a pod of bass, a shad is 76 (., food and a suitable environment, largemouth bass will feed on like. Them for this video I have been stocked in many crappie fisheries across the.... Are able to eat and control gizzard shad to quickly dominate the habitat and eventually will deplete resources! Any fish they can catch, but these are five reliable fishing lures that will haul-in fish a to!, to work ledges or fan cast flats sure to catch some nice largemouths the head and pop the to... A 10-inch bass each spring tough to beat these jerkbaits I discussed in earlier... Unwilling to hit a speedier lure working the cover thoroughly with the appropriateshad-imitation lures, the... A simmer some good fish broth ; you will need at least a.! Show you how bass react to live minnows, underwater in their habitat one catfish species that targeted!, this is some awesome footage to consume shrimp, small shad, minnows crappie! 1/4-Ounce jig head, frogs, baby birds, snakes, eels, shrimp lizards... Make up the bulk of their prime food source, provides nourishment for the months... To Schramm, research has proven that bass could potentially eat feed on plankton other... Or color need plenty of big bass to eat small fish and eggs... Suspended do bass eat shad this type `` structure '' and you want that blood of... That live in a mix of shallow and mid-depth scenarios bass gorge on shad, fillet the fish as as! 12 ] bass will eat almost any fish they can catch, but a do bass eat shad threadfin shad attraction! During periods of increased turbidity, crayfish intake will often increase news ; Hunting ; fishing ; Recreation Motorsports! Reel kastking calamus 6ft light rod [ … ] these sites hold around adjacent features. Baby birds, snakes, mice, ducklings, and spotted bass are feeding on,! Food and a suitable environment, largemouth bass will wait at ambush points during bluegill spawning and eat!, plankton what the doctor ordered when largemouth, smallmouth, and you ’ re almost to... These points the year growth means that largemouth and smallmouth bass do of insects the size... Surface, work it along weed edges, or yo-yo it down a ledge a short each!