Fishing balls of Shad deep

I found a pattern recently where Shad were in 18 to 20 feet and balls and the only fish in the lake were chasing the schools of Shad. What is your preferred method for fishing shad in 15 to 25 ft?

Drop shot or spoon

A-Rig

My choice is a S/K 10XD. It works!

+1. I’d add Wing ding/Little George in the summer/fall. Blade bait water temps below 50deg

So what would tbe set jp be for a spoon?

drop shot spoon or rattle trap

Spoon with swivel, baitcaster, 12lb. invisX

+ finesse swimbait

Whatever works, which is pretty much alot when they are feeding.

I’d dropshot a KVD dream shot, throw a spoon, Jig a bladebait over the side and watch me eat it on the graph, or throw a 6XD-10XD. The setup I run for a spoon under 1 ounce is a medium action mccain premium series jerk rattle spin rod. LINK: https://www.tackleselect.com/products/jerk-rattle-spin
With a faster gear ratio reel 7 speed and up with anywhere from 12-18 pound sunline fc sniper pound test depends on the cover
With a spoon 1 ounce and up I run the same setup only I up my line to between 16 and 20 pound sunline fc sniper (with fc sniper you can use a higher pound test because it’s very thin comparitive to seaguar)
And a McCain Rods ultimate worm and jig rod
LINK: https://www.tackleselect.com/products/ultimate-worm-jig

Hey man thanks. I fish mccain rods and have thr rods you recommended. I will be adding spoons to the box.

Something else to try when fishing a tail spinner or spoon. Best with a very small spoon or a blade type bait is to dead stick it. Just hold the rod very still.

Whenever I fish balls deep I like to throw a big crank.