You will have a hard time finding anyone who sells em live b/c they are so hard to keep alive. Buy the net - it's worth it.

I have fished with bluegill just as much as I have with gizzard shad and I would say this... gizzards will get more bites but rips off the hook ALOT easier. Bluegill stay on the hook so if you get a little bite you don't have to rebait and recast. This probably isn't as big of deal fishing from a boat but fishing from shore its more of an issue.

If you know anyone that bowfishes, tell them to shoot you a carp or two. Keep it on ice until you use it. It takes a 1"X1" piece to catch several fish because it stays on the hook better than most baits. I fillet it but leave the skin on and then cut a small piece off when I need it. Just make sure that you hook it through the skin and it'll stay on the hook better. My last outing we caught 50 blues on two small carp under 5 lbs each.

Just me talking here, but dont let anybody convince you that you HAVE to have shad or other fish for bait! chunks of raw chicken breast is all I ever use, and I catch PLENTY of blue cats. no need to marinate it in any secret sauce either. and for those who say it will only catch little ones...I beg to differ! I have won several tournaments, and caught countless blue cats from 20-40lbs on it...biggest so far is 61lbs.

good luck!

I have been using chicken breast lately, and I've been having success. I like being able to get it ready to go before hand so I can just grab it and go when I've got a few hours to fish. Shad are free if you can find them though. There's a lot to be said for that.

Shad are free, usually easy to get, and they're the main food source of the fish I'm targeting....gonna be hard pressed to convince me anything is better for blue cat.

Will black rhino tears work with sea lions?

Works well with baby sea lions, but don't try it with a bait clicker. They are strong swimmers.

I always carry my cast net when i fish. I usually can catch plenty of shad off the boat ramps or dock. They usually aren't as big as what u can get from a boat but they work. Another thing I do is hit up neighborhood ponds with a trout hook and some worms. You can catch a bucket full of perch in no time. Take your leftover bait and salt it down an freeze it for next trip!

Do you put the hook through the shad twice? That helps keep them on the hook quite a bit. If you're not sure what I mean, CatfishEdge has a video showing one way to do it.

One other comment: I've found that using fresh shad in the 4" to 5" range you will not catch nearly as many dinks.

Big shad chunks shouldnt come off if you hook it in the nose if the head piece or hook the other chunks in the tough skin on the ribs.

if you're using circle hook don't hook bait through twice, just hook once at top third of your cut bait, for shad hook just below the dorsal fin bone, NEVER hook anywhere on the rib bones area. Head is in at under jaw out between nostrils.

Big gizzard shad, buf or carp, good fresh, but night crawlers beat all frozen baits, that's been my experience from the bank.

I try to carry at least two different baits. Sometimes they will hit only on one bait and not the other so I always try to carry at least two. Usually fresh caught shad and cut carp/perch or sometimes cut bait and shrimp if the shad are hard to catch like they can sometimes be in early spring/late winter from the bank.

do thay have river chubs here or is the water to warm we use to use them al the time for musky pike they are really soft fish and sensitive to changers in the water i wonder how they would work being oily as they are they don't get big

do thay have river chubs here or is the water to warm we use to use them al the time for musky pike they are really soft fish and sensitive to changers in the water i wonder how they would work being oily as they are they don't get big