I would like to know the differences between Shiner and Shad in a small farm pond.

Don't shad prefer open and deeper water and Shiners like shallow?

It is my understanding that Shiners breed multiple times a year and Shad only once a year.
If this is the case wouldn't Shiners have a better chance of surviving as in not getting wiped out by the bass?




Pond Location: 25 miles south of I10.

I've tried them both on several occasions over the years. Neither can survive the bass depredation. With threadfin shad, it seems they will ball up in the deepest part of you water in winter months where the bass can simply decimate them, one by one. And they do just that. Gizzard shad survive the predation better but don't produce nearly as much forage as threadfin in my ponds.

Shiners just can't compete. Everything in the pond eats them. In my experience they do not last more than a year before predation gets them all.

Shiners and shad can be pretty good starter forage in bass ponds, but for sustained forage production, you need bluegills and/or tilapia .

I may consider having shiners in a small pond by themselves and then remove some later to release them in the big pond with the bass.

Meadowlark pretty well said it all. An interesting fact. 99.5% of all the eggs laid/hatched don't survive one year. That's OK and is Mama Nature at work.