i HAVE A SMALL CAST NET AND A LARGER ONE AS WELL. i FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE USING THE SMALLER ONE. bUT i REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT TO EVEN LOOK OR HOW TO PIN POINT WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN. 95% OF THE TIME i PROBABLY WONT BE TRYING TO CATCH SHAD REAL EARLY IN THE MORNING SO USUALLY AFTER 730-8 i USUALLY ONLY NEED LESS THAN 10 SHAD. ANTHING WOULD HELP THINGS TO LOOK FOR

When i do it i start off with my small net as the big one has heavier lead on it which wears my shoulder out.

If i am having great success i switch over to the larger net.

I like it when i can park my vehicle on a boat ramp with headlights shining into the water and you see them jumping.

Park get out and toss the net while your lights are on you will fill a minnow bucket real quick and in a hurry.

I usually only throw mine off docks but start at shallow work my way to deep sometimes i have good luck at the deep ends other times ive dont great in only a few feet of water if not a foot.



Not the most technical suggestions just how i have been doing it past few years.

Saine nets work good also but ill wait untill the water gets warmer for all that!

Thanks for the ble after caughtreply. i think I will try the method of shining my lights in the water the night brfore goin and just putting the shad on ice for the next days trip. but Still want to get the bait to the fish as fast as posssi

I have a frabill minnow bucket with a bubble box and i love it

But i have caught my bucket full and frozen them before too

catnoodle,besure and put your shad in baggies with no water then on ice...it will keep them from getting soft on you...also this time of the year you can find them in the day...my question is why do you only need 10 shad..? fish with as many poles as you can and keep them baited up ..bro go big! the shad are getting ready to spawn and you can find thempretty easy right now boat ramps are great..this morning at ten I made three cast and had about two hundred ...oh also put the little net up and use the big one practice in the yard in an afternoon you can get it...try not to spin it like most people try it is not a frisbee..its a net ....that is what I see most new guys try and do ...the net will open up on its own if thrown properly...

I've been wanting to get a net also to go after shad. I read somewhere you should have one no smaller than 5 ft diameter. What are your thoughts on this?

7 ft is the the only size I use ..I have had all sizes and even a 9 fter until I found out it was not legal in Texas....
dont get the one with the ring in it ....

Thanks for the input. i will definately try the head lights pointed in the water on the boat ramp. that just sounds so logicaal by drawing them in. i have lately become a firm believer that fresh caught shad are ABSOLUTELY better,sooo much more affective than frozen shad. So what do you think about catching them the night before and putting them on ice only until the morning fishing trip? Or Shuold I try harder to get them right before we fish in the morninG? hOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE DOES THAT MAKE BECAUSE IF IT MAKES As much of a difference as going from frozen to fresh them I will definatedly

The shad were running the banks on Ray Hubbard this morning at around 7:30. Within inches of shore.

Live shad are much better than even fresh shad on ice, the only problem is keeping them alive! I can usually keep some alive for an hour or so, but and still working on a way to keep most alive longer than an hour or 2.

To find shad during the summer, I usually look shallow. Shallow banks with weeds usually holds shad for me, also small coves out of the wind will produce shad. It's basically a guessing game, If I think a spot might have shad, ill throw my net. If I get a few, ill throw there more. If not.. ill move on to the next spot.

I use a small one at times when I am trying to get shad from the banks. Some times the area the shad are in is small and a large cast net will not work as well. Plus, my small cast net has only the 1/4 mesh. This will catch you minnows also. With the 3/8" you won't get many minnows. But if all you are wanting is shad, then stay witht the 3/8 mesh. Also, nylon is easier to repair but it sinks slower than monofilament.
But this is just me. Others have different views on cast nets. And some won't try and catch any minnows like I do. If it is a natural bait to the lake, I will use them.

Bro. Terry if I ever get to meet you face to face I'll have to get some lessons. I've tried the 6ft and all I can do with it is make some letters like a I,J,C, and a period . I've got a 4ft'er with the ring that I can get to open about 75% of the time, which for me is dang good .

look up the Ausie style of throwing a cast net. I think just search Youtube for Calusa Cast Net and you will see this "how to" video.
This one vid made it much easier to throw my 7' net. The technique does not work so well on the smaller nets for me, dont know why though

Techniques aside, a bit of practice makes a lot of difference. And no a cast net is not a frisbe but a little spin sure helps my nets open. About frozen shad, sounds crazy but just enough double strength coolade to fill the voids in the baggie around the shad and then frozen quickly makes for good tough bait that catches fish. Now for fresh, fold a shop towel put it in you plastic baggie and then put your shad in it. I use plastic water bottles that are frozen for my ice and this is far preferable to using chip ice, will not melt and water up your bait or ice chest. Another thing about freezing shad, the sooner you do it the better. The longer the time between catching them and you freezing them makes for poorer bait. meaning fresh frozen shad is far better than long dead shad being frozen.

So rickt300 you say from your tested experience and opinion frozen shad with coolaid boost is equal in catching power as the fresh caught shad? I would love for that to be true. Since i have not had the opportunity to put time into testing one method to the other in the same spot with the same conditions I cant really give my opinion on the matter. All i am going by is what i have read and the facts from a few time I fished with bait shop frozen shad and never caught a thing and then the few times I have been fortunate enough to catch fresh shad and had success.. Now let me tell you the time of day, year, and weather conditions were all different in just about every case. so there are a lot of variables involved that might have trumped the bait factor alltogether which in return would change the outcome of my catching rated as well.

Definatly dont waste you money on the ring one. I bought one by accident, and to me its harder to through than a normal one. Just practice throwing like everyone said on the larger nets. I use a 6ft net and it works just fine. When I was using smaller nets it just wouldnt get very many. work the banks of coves on the wind blown sides, docks ect. If you have a fish finder just look for them on there. I usualy see lots of tails flipping on the creek I fish and I can throw out a few times and have enough for the day. If I dont see them jumping then I just hit the banks of coves and docks. I had alot of trouble too when I started out, I just kept trying new places and things, and took all the information people have me on here, and now its easy to catch shad. Good luck!

If you put some salt in your water it will help tons! also a good areator will work wonders. I can catch shad, bring them home, put 50 or so in a 50 gallon bait well, put like a cup of salt in it, and they will stay alive for a week (maybe longer but by then im fishing with them) On Tiny's webpage (www.catfishing.tv) I believe he has a ratio of salt to water on there that he uses. I just pour some in and it works great.