Wheres the best place to hook shad to keep them alive. I've been hooking them through the nose through the top of the mouth with a circle hook but only about 50% of them stay alive very long. Should I not cast them but just drop them?

nostrils is the best place to hook them, shad are not a hardy fish and do die easily. the bigger gizzards (6"-14") whole and alive work well and stay alive best

If you're gonna fish shad alive, then I agree with riverrat thru the nose or you can hook thru the little space between their eyes. Their lips are to delicate to hold a hook. It's best to fish shad cut. Their heads and bodies or fillet them if you have large enough shad to fillet. Cut Perch/Bluegill also works great.

through the Nostril.
how big of a hook are using?
i have found that if you use a big hook (wire diamenter)
they will kill the shad easier/quicker becasue it streaches the nostril and puts the shad in stress and kills them.
i like to use a 1/0 or 2/0 owner or VMC circle hook.
no bigger or it will kill the shad easier.

I use to hook mine through the nostril and thought that was the best way. But Pie showed me that the soft area below the eye is by far the best spot to hook live shad. Less fatality and they stay alive alot longer then throught the nostril.

very interresting Danny I will have to try always gone up through the bottom lip and between the nostils..not in the brain more towards the front......
I agree with Yellowcat the diameter of the hook is very important...VMC ...all the way....

Yellowcat,
I'm not sure what brand hooks I have I know I have some VMC but I have them all mixed together according to size. For the mostpart I use 3/0 and 4/0 and some 2/0. They are fairly thick though due to having some straighten out.

Catfishd,
I'll have to try that, sounds like it might work, especially with the thicker hooks.

Is it O.K. to cast them or will that kill them?

I'm trying to target Big Blues and Flatheads but not having alot of luck at it. I just built a homemade baittank that's round and im now able to keep the little critters alive. The built-in one on my boat is squared off.

Thanks for the info folks.

that may be your problem. if you hook them in the Nostril dont use a hook bigger than a 2/0. main thing try to find a hook that has the smallest diamter wire.

i would also try to hook them where CatfishD said. sounds like something to try.

ill tell ya now if ya start missing blues. PM me and i will tell ya something.

P.M. sent.

I use #6 hooks thru the eye area, but I've never tried to cast with them hooked that way. They prolly will fly off or die with a strong cast. When I do fish live shad I just drop them down to the bottom looking for some Crappie. I have used #2 circle hooks on a balloon rig with live shad hooked thru the eyes. That was a mistake. They tangled up my rigging real bad. They last a long time hooked that way, but for kitties I strictly use cut shad. The scent travels well and brings 'em in. When the bite stops I cut another one and they'll come back for some more dinner. When you're bank bound and can't find the shad I always like to catch a few green perch and fillet them up instead. They work great for kitties.

Yes you can cast the shad hooked this way. But I dont normally fish for catfish with live shad. But I use shad for hybrids and stripers. If I fish for blues I will kill the shad then put them on the hook. And I dont use shad to fish for flatheads. I use bluegill or 8" shiners when available.

I been hookin' them thru the nose holes with a #1 or #2 Gamakatsu shiner hook fishin' for them pesky hybrids. Wanna try your way. Could ya help me out and tell me which one of the red dots (left, right, middle) on this little 4 inch threadfin is the spot to hook'em and if the red dot should be moved a bit to get it jus' right. Thanks I'd appreciate it.

Well I tried it yesterdy out on Belton. Found the soft spot under the eye just where the middle red dot is in the photo above. Wuz runnin' 6 rods 3 hooked thru the lips and 3 hooked thru the soft spot. Couldn't tell the difference in how long they lasted. I think they might swim just a might better hooked thru the nose, hard to tell. Maybe later on when the water gets hot late in the spring and early summer it might make a difference. Right now in this cooler weather I'm keepin' twice as many shad in my tank as later on in the year an' maybe losin' one or two durin' the day.

George T

Thanks for the info. Were you casting them or just dropping them down?

Two rods were bein' cast out from the boat. I ran 4 rods straight down and two I cast out and let drift with a bobber and bobber stop set at 20ft on one and 22 ft. on the othern. I hooked the ones I cast out both ways and I don't think castin' killed any of 'em. I think throwing 'em out three or four times mighta contributed to their demise though.

One thing I noticed and forgot to mention. I use the Gamakatsu shiner hooks and they got a pretty steep angle on 'em. When I hooked one below the eye with one a these hooks after a bit they had a tendency to get cockeyed a might and stick the shad with the pointy end of the hook. Hardly ever saw that usin' the same hooks and hookin' 'em through the nose. So type of hook used may also be a factor when decidin' what part of the shad ya wanna stick.