I�ve been reading here about how good fishing can be with live bait. So I bought a cast net and tried it out this weekend on LRH. My throws were embarrassingly bad but I did net a few dozen shad. Most of them died within minutes in my live well. I fished on a couple humps but no bites. So a couple questions:

How to best keep them alive a little longer? I�m thinking a bucket with one of those portable air pumps?

How do you rig for fishing with live shad? I had a casting sinker, under which was about 18� line and a gold minnow hook.

Your rig will work fine for sandies and crappie but the hybrids, not to mention the blues, on RH will straighten that wire hook like nothing. If you want to keep shad alive you will a specialized tank. Size depends on the boat and how many shad you put in. I use a recirculating salt water tank that works well until water temps get in the low 80s. For a rig I do it Carolina style: 1/2 oz. to 1 oz. barrel weight, barrel swivel, 14 lb leader or something lighter than line on reel, you want the leader to break and not lose the weight and all, I generall use a 2/0 Truturn but circle hooks are good too.

Digger PM sent. I use a carolina rig with circle hooks. Stump Jumper is on the money with his info.

Get a Greyline shad tank from George they are the best ones made I kept them alive fore several days

Hybrids will straighten that hook out just by looking at it

hire a live bait guide

Best striper, or hybrid fishing I've ever had was on live shad. You have to have the right equipment and know how to keep them alive. The live bait guys work hard to keep there bait fresh, its not cheap to do it. Go with some guides from TFF and learn what to do. It will be the best money you spent. It will save you time, money and a lot of headaches. Plus you will have fun and catch fish. There are many good guides on TFF, just find one that does what you are looking for. Good Luck

Live bait almost always produces more than anything else. I have a 40 gal super bait tank II and put a cup of salt for every 10 gal of water. I also use some ammonia remover and foam off if needed. I can keep bait alive for well over a week. Learn a good net throwing technique that does not require putting the net in your mouth. I use a one handed throw that works well and does not put the net in my mouth or over my shoulder. Live bait fishing is much more work but it can produce good results.

Sometimes you work harder at getting the bait then fishing. I was on Texoma once and a guy told me that he never worried about locating and catching fish as long as he had bait. For the most part this is true.

Bankers & live bait;

Suggestions? Since I travel to many locations via foot, I'd like to be able to catch my bait, bucket it for a few hours and keep them alive.

I have no issues netting shad/bait anytime I go out.. They do die in my bucket of water.. No air pump, no chemicals added etc..

I can catch fish on my cut bait, but fishing with some healthy, live bait would be fun also..

Looking forward to suggestions for us bankers.

been fishing bait for 30 years . it works when it's the right time.if you dont want to get your boat scaley and do it right don;t think about it.

Live bait works every month of the year. Extremely hot or cold will change things a bit though. Biggest striped I've ever seen blew up and swallowed a 18" gizzard late August . 46 lbs. Ya just never know. Looked like a car dropped into the river from 100 ft up when it hit.

If you are going to keep fish, use live bait and any strong hook. If you want to C&R use circle hooks or artificial.

Fishing both in a school of sandies, they bit the artificial shad better than the live ones.

You may have to fish where you catch your bait and use it as you catch it. When the water temp gets in the 50's or 60 degree range you will be able to keep them in an aerated bucket for an hour or so if you only put 5 or 10 shad 3 or 4 inches long. Their are some 20 gallon shad bait tanks out there that you could keep maybe 20 or 30 shad in but when the water gets above 80 degrees you have to really keep your filters clean and add salt. Sometimes I will put a couple of frozen water bottles in my filter chamber to cool the water a little but if you cool it too much you can kill them too.