Is there any legal way to transport shad from one lake to another? I don't see one.

A friend of mine has done it before. He had to get a special permit from tpwd i believe.

Was that permit before the zebra muscle outbreak?

99.9% sure the answer is NO.

Yeah it may have been. It was probably 3 years ago. He got them from lake fairfield and put them in his private lake. Shad and talapia. He knew someone witb a transport truck.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/contact-us

^^ Here's the folks you'll want to call or email for current information on laws regarding transport of shad within the state. ^^

You can transport them if they're bagged and on ice. Not alive though.

You can transport them ......

Just not in the water from the lake they came out of .......

Use treated tap water. I would suggest having the chemicals that you treat the tap water with in your possession when transporting. That way LEO can see that its possible for you to treat the water. They have nothing to test the water to see if it came out of the lake or the spicket. I don't think anyone wants to transport ZM.

I'd suggest reading TPWD rules.


Possession and Transport

Here are some excerpts;

Live fish, including personally caught live bait, cannot be transported from the water body where the fish were caught in or aboard a vessel in water from the water body where the fish were caught.

Persons leaving or approaching public fresh water are required to drain all water from their vessels and on-board receptacles (includes live wells, bilges, motors and any other receptacles or water-intake systems coming into contact with public waters).

Possess or transport any exotic aquatic plant or animal listed as harmful or potentially harmful. This includes: plants such as hydrilla, water hyacinth, and giant salvinia; fishes such as tilapia and Asian carps (grass, silver, and bighead carp);

So it's specifically prohibited to transport or possess live Tilapia and the regulations say "all water". I'm sure tap water counts in "all"
Also it's my understanding that if the shad come from a lake with zebra mussels they could be contaminated with zebra mussel eggs or veligers. So you'd have to treat the shad with bleach or other chemicals to make sure you aren't transporting zebra muscles. The live shad I've had experience with will die if you look at them wrong so I don't imagine they'll survive a soak in Clorox.
Unless I had something in writing from a high up guy @ TPWD or a permit, I would not try to move shad from one lake to another thinking it was legal.

I'd suggest you re-read TPWD rules.

Live fish, including personally caught live bait, cannot be transported from the water body where the fish were caught in or aboard a vessel in water from the water body where the fish were caught.

Persons leaving or approaching public fresh water are required to drain all water from their vessels and on-board receptacles (includes live wells, bilges, motors and any other receptacles or water-intake systems coming into contact with public waters).

It is a pain, but you can transfer "only your bait" from lake A, to a tank(filled with treated tap water)in your truck.
And then drive to lake B, and transfer your bait back to your vessels bait tank.

Way too much work here ....Unless you really are that desperate to use live bait ... GO FISH !!!!

I'm with Randy Wood on this one .... No-one wants to transport ZM .........