Shad from the bank is tough in the winter unless you go up a creek to find them.

I was reading about shad, and when i was espada today,i saw small fish jumping out of the water, close to the shore

Get you some Sonny's or stubbys cheese bait. Get a tile grout sponge from a hardware store. Year of a 1/2inch by 1/2 inch square of the sponge. Put the sponge on a #4-6 treble hook add hook to line with a splitshot above the hook 12 inches. Add some cooking oil to the cheese bait and stir( it'll seep into the sponge better). Dip and cast then wait. The cheese "chums" the water and the cats love it. Its all I ever use

Baitfish are plentiful on the power plant lakes from the banks. No worries there.

Ive used catfish charlie cheese bait, but my dogs found it and ate it all...such a horrible idea on their part.

im in south texas about 150 miles southwest from you. best luck i have had on was stink bait (sonnys chicken liver), cut fresh bluegill (1/2"x1/2" on a #1 bait holder hook), and sometimes nightcrawler worms. stink bait and fresh bluegill works the best. look around for bait fish, find out what species they are are use them if you can net or catch them.

my husband gets our cut bait (bluegill and shad) from the cast net from a local lake. we freeze what we dont use. or our daughters catch the smallest bluegill and we make it the chose one to bring dinner home.

if you go for the catching route, its fun. a #6 hook and a boober with a small nightcrawler hooked on is all you need. if the bite is slow, move down or up shore.

i would suggest you try a whole night crawler or two on a #1 or 1/0 bait holder hook (the ones with the double barbs on the shank) for the worms since you didnt mention you tried them yet.

the little guy was on a cubbed bluegill






best of luck. fish on!

I lived around San Antonio all my life until the last 5yrs. The area is heavily fished and they are difficult to catch. I suggest going East or West to a good lake. Amistad to the west or take your pick to the east.