I have a 22FT CC boat that is rigged as a salt-water boat and has standard live / bait wells. I have fallen in love with Texoma and striper fishing and want to be able to catch shad and maintain on my boat while fishing. Any advice for a portable bait tank or something similar that I could rig up to support this?

Also, is it pretty much the norm to go out early am and use a bait ast net to catch some under lights?

Check out the gray line bait tanks.

http://www.graylinebaittanks.com/

Greyline are the best after market bait wells you can buy in just about everyone's opinion. They are awesome tanks if you have the room and the cash to buy one! If your boat is equipped with a round or oval bait well already put a keep-alive pump in it and pump in fresh water every 30min or so to get the toxins flushed out. !!!!!don't over crowd your tank!!!!!

Now catching shad is a different story! This time of the year try up in the backs of coves and creeks where the water is The warmest. Wind blown shorelines and points can be good places also.

Buying a good tank right off the bat will save you many headaches. I think Sharc has a 50 gallon Greyline for sale.

if you don't have room in your boat for a seperate tank send me a pm. or check me out at the boat show with whittle boats.I have a filter set up that works on my sea hunt live wells.

Best advise for Keeping Shad?

If we are taking about alive - then don't.

Just keep them in the lakes (alive and well feeding fish).

There is a few times of the year that live bait will be the ticket (especially during the hot parts of summer) but most of the year, you will have a lot more fun fishing and catching fish on lures (moving and shaking).

If you must use live bait - get a shad tank (I use Grayline - but most will do) - then catch the little burgers (that can be hard) - then get the right chemicals to put in the shad tank to help keep them alive ( and change the filter so they don't die in their own xhit) and keep the water temp just right else they lose their spunk and/or die.

The point is - you really don't want to go down that path (it's a hassle) - if so just get an aquarium.

Shad are Great dead (Fresh Dead - and never frozen - they are useless once frozen) - fresh dead for Cat Fish and even Crappie - but forget about trying to keep them alive,

I use lures until the water gets warm then live Shad rule here at Bridgeport. You can see that some think Shad are a total waste of time and effort.

Nothing can be further from the truth, Don't be afraid of live bait. Yes, they can be hard to find and keep alive but there are ways to do it and you can considerably shorten the learning curve.

I'll put a 5 inch Threadfin against any lure...At least in this lake.

The best aftermarket tanks have the best filtration, aeration, and insulation. Greyline has one of those...insulation, which is the least important IMHO. Creekbank, Superbait tank II, Sunshine, Bluewater, and Clearwater have better filtration and aeration. I'm not sure which of those are still in business but if you can find one with similar aeration and filtration with no seams that's your best bet. Sunshine bought out Greyline a few years ago. If they incorporated Sunshines filtration and aeration into Greylines mold then I stand corrected.

http://www.bluewaterbaittanks.com/


These are the best tanks in my Opinion. I have a sunshine but want one of these bad.