Went out to LL this morning, and was skunked on whites and hybrids again. Fished the 121 cut. Worked the edge for a while, then broke down and got in the middle of the boat show. Only two boats were catching fish, cause they were the only ones who had shad/minnows. This one Chaparelle was puttin on a real show, tearing up the sandies. I didn't even get a snif on my slab/fly. nor did anyone I saw.

Does anyone know a place in the Colony that sells minnows?

Or I need some help catching shad... I just can't seem to find them. Not to mention I put a 2 foot hole in my net this morning (it was a cheap one anyways) trying in vain. I'm getting a new one, but I guess I need some pointers on how to find them. I don't have a suitable bait tank yet to keep them alive, I just need to figure out how to catch them first, then I'll worry about sinking my $$$ in a bait tank.

Kens in The Colony sells minnows. I think its called Rapido now or something. It is on the East side of Main street just before the bridge.

If you're in Lewisville, go to the wholesale live bait shop on Mill street - you buy them by the pound there. Much cheaper than paying by the dozen, so long as you have an adequate livewell.

thanks Zeek. I' know right where those guys are, but I need to work on my livewell system first.

Oh, regarding shad - I've been finding them in very shallow coves. Mostly you have to watch the surface & look for the flip splashes they do to point you to the right place.

Cool, thanks for the tips zeek.

and I'll have to check that gas station out Miker, I appreciate it.

Big JAcks gas station at I35 and Hwy 407 by Lake Park used to have minnows.

We found them along with 20 or so other boats at Deadmans point. No Hybrids but some good sized sandies.

If your already on the lake and need minnows I believe you can run over to the Lewisville fishing barge and buy them, not cheap however.

Take your cast net over to the Stewarts Penisula side by the golf course and go to the second cove on your left, just past the light house, it goes way back in and the shad are in there like we have never seen, almost any time of day right now. I wish I could describe it better, but you will know when you get there, it goes pretty far back in, there are some steps like new construction of a house that was never built on your left as you enter the cove. If you see that, you're in the right place. You can shoot over there, and be back at the 121 cut in no time. I hope this helps!

If you give a little info on where your launching that might help you get more detailed info on where to find shad.

Some other tips in catching shad:
1st thing - learn what shad look like on your sonar.
No need to make throws unless you see them.

Make good throws.
This is why the above is important. If you finally find them after 20 min of throwing and your all wore out, you will most likely have poor throws. Poor throws = less in the net.

Keeping shad without a bait tank:
Don't pump water in your livewell at the ramp. Get away from all that dirty water.

Keep your pumps on auto so that you can continue to pump new water in.

Don't over load.

It's a pain but if you can pull all that water out and then replace every 30 min or less, that will be thing that helps the most.


Without a filter system that's about all you can do. You can add ice and salt, and it will help, but just will not last long due to the new water being pumped in and old water pushed out.

Just some advice about bait that I'll pass on.
Decide on how much you want to use bait. If it's often, then do what you need to do to get the money and buy you a bait tank. Once you got the bait tank, then start learning more about bait. Your just getting the right tool for the job. Anything else can just get frustrating or limit your opportunities.

yea they still do' thats where i got mine this morning'

Thanks for all the info guys (especially Holzer and Pro!).

I am taking your advice Holzer and building a bait tank this week. It will have a filter system on it. A friend who builds them all the time is gonna help me, so I will have an adequate system.

I used to launch out of Tower Bay/Lake Park, but recently have started going to Stewart's Cove. Its closer to home, less crowded, and closer to where I like to fish (and with only a 40hp on my pontoon, that makes a big difference).

I can help you out at Tower Bay but I havent' been over to Stewarts in a good while for shad. The only time I ever caught shad there was in the winter. Follow Pro's advice on those coves he's talking about. If that doesn't work for you, PM me and I'll get you set up at Tower.

You shouldn't have a problem catching shad around/close to that cut. If there weren't shad there I'd imagine that there wouldn't be as many fish caught over there. If the wind is blowing into a cove/point, start there.

Final tip (from me) on live bait for hybrids. You can do just as well with live perch as with live shad for the hybrids, so long as the baits aren't humongous. Fresh dead cut shad works very well too, so if you don't have a good livewell, there's still options on bait fishing.