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Cast netting bait #11801706 08/29/16 12:26 AM
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rongleaves Offline OP
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How do you keep the bait alive!? Yesterday evening my son and I headed out for an evening/night of fishing. We first went to cast net for some minnows/shad. It was about 7pm and cooling down. I had the live well full and had it on auto circulate. After catching a bunch we headed to the spot, 10-15min away. We'd already lost several and within the first hour had lost nearly all of them. What am I doing wrong? I've seen guys do this and assume they fish the night with their bait catch. Any advice is appreciated.

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11801722 08/29/16 12:38 AM
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TCK73 Offline
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It is a lot of work to keep shad alive, once you get the hang of it, it will not seem as bad. They will not like temperature swings, hot water, extra cold water, dirty water, being touched, corners, and other things. If you do not have an insulated and filtered bait tank, you will not keep them alive long. Water quality is key with shad, and a filter is a must. Look at a Grayline Bait Tank if you want to see what guys that fish shad a lot use. I can say from experience, they are the best.

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11801869 08/29/16 02:13 AM
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Even with a greyline it is sometimes necessary to add salt, ice, shad keeper, chlorine killer, and a variety of things that different people use. The main thing is don't overload the tank with bait. You can't stack them like sardines in a can and expect them to live long.


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Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11801946 08/29/16 02:59 AM
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Use frozen water bottles for ice, add water softener salt, you need aeration that puts air into water, not just agitates. Thread fins harder to keep than gizzards, minnows easier than all shad, sunfish and goldfish easiest


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Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11802176 08/29/16 12:42 PM
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jugmaster Offline
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Just don't put to many in the tank!!


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Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11802240 08/29/16 01:23 PM
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rongleaves Offline OP
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Thanks guys, I try cooling with water bottles etc next time. I didn't have but maybe 20-25 in the tank, most were just an inch or so in size and tank is probably 30gal.

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11802622 08/29/16 04:37 PM
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Try this product. It is what commercial bait dealers use. Sure Life has a whole line of products and instructions for keeping bait alive. I had good luck with it when I worked at Lake Weatherford Marina.


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Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11805042 08/30/16 10:24 PM
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I mostly bank fish for catfish. When I catch shad in my throw net, I'll fold up my net along with the unused shad and put the net a foot or so out from the shoreline. Some of the shad will live and some will die, but this method keeps me in fresh bait. If the water's warm and there's no wave action, they all might die pretty quick. This is not a fool-proof method, but I though I'd throw it out there in case you ever fish from the shore.

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11806123 08/31/16 03:58 PM
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Before I bought my Grayline bait tank here is how I did it. I got two 5 gallon buckets. best to use the blue lowes buckets as the shad are calmer looking at that color.

1. Fill both with water. use two aerators and get the water Oxygenated.
2. Dump the shad from the net into the first bucket. Discard any shad that hit the floor or are stuck in the net. 3 dozen shad max.
3. The shad will be highly spooked by being caught and will puke and poop like crazy. The bottom of the bucket will have a layer of this. Let them settle in the first bucket until foam starts to form on the top. This means the amonia level is getting high. Take a dip net and transfer the shad to the second bucket.
4. Dump the old water from bucket 1 and clean out the [censored]. Refill with lake water and start the aerator.
5. repeat process when too much foam forms on bucket 2.

Sure, it's a lot of work. That's why I spent so much on a Grayline bait tank. You can keep them alive long enough to fish like this though. But they wont be as lively as they will in a bait tank with a filter.

The issue with shad is not aeration, it's contamination by ammonia. Seems all they do is [censored] and poop. Nasty lil buggers but fish dearly love them.



Last edited by PKfishin; 08/31/16 03:59 PM.

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Re: Cast netting bait [Re: uncle_bagster] #11806145 08/31/16 04:12 PM
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Originally Posted By: uncle_bagster
I mostly bank fish for catfish. When I catch shad in my throw net, I'll fold up my net along with the unused shad and put the net a foot or so out from the shoreline. Some of the shad will live and some will die, but this method keeps me in fresh bait. If the water's warm and there's no wave action, they all might die pretty quick. This is not a fool-proof method, but I though I'd throw it out there in case you ever fish from the shore.


Great advice for a banker. Thanks!

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11806424 08/31/16 06:45 PM
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I don't know how to keep shad alive, but I keep them cold using the plastic freeze paks and a small lunch cooler. This stops the bait from getting soft and mushy. Put the freeze pak on the bottom.


Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11807335 09/01/16 10:06 AM
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This is what I do:

Get a bait tank. It has filters so the shad won't choke on their scales
When you net them, first dump in a bucket so they can deficate
Only cool the water with frozen water bottles if you must, going from warm lake water to cold water is not good
Put one cup of non-ionized salt for every 10 gallons
Use 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1oz every 3 gallons
Use foam away to reduce surface foam
Don't over populate your tank
Clean tank filters every hour or so...just wash them off in lake
Don't use tap water with chlorine, buy a pump with a hose and use lake water

See, it's simple to keep shad alive...haha

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: j791] #11808037 09/01/16 06:38 PM
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rongleaves Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: j791
This is what I do:

Get a bait tank. It has filters so the shad won't choke on their scales
When you net them, first dump in a bucket so they can deficate
Only cool the water with frozen water bottles if you must, going from warm lake water to cold water is not good
Put one cup of non-ionized salt for every 10 gallons
Use 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1oz every 3 gallons
Use foam away to reduce surface foam
Don't over populate your tank
Clean tank filters every hour or so...just wash them off in lake
Don't use tap water with chlorine, buy a pump with a hose and use lake water

See, it's simple to keep shad alive...haha


After all these posts it sounds like a piece of cake! sigh

Re: Cast netting bait [Re: rongleaves] #11808485 09/01/16 11:27 PM
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Goodnight

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