Ok, here's another question to increase my knowledge.

Saturday morning, I was running my six new jug lines. I began the morning by just putting on the whole shad onto the hook. I started in the eye socket and wormed him onto the hook finishing down by the tail. The shad went into the same standard shape as the "J" style hook that I had.

Later in the morning, I started to fillet off the sides of the shad and just use that. The cats sucked'em right off the hook, leaving me with nothing.

Please read my other post on what type of hook to use on a jugline and then here are these questions.

1. How do you get a shad on a Kahle hook? I tried a few Kahle hooks last year and had the devil of a time getting the shad to turn that really tight first turn. It was a royal pain.

2. Do you want to hook the shad head first, with the hook point coming down to the tail or

3. Do you want to hook the shad through the tail and end up towards the head with the point?

seigrist
I hook the shad head first and down through the tail. I explained in greater detail in your other post. Now, MikeC whom I have had the previlage of visiting with and spending some time talking about fishing baits the hook with a shad just the oppisit as I do. His reasoning makes perfect sense and he's a dang fine fisherman as well as a good person. Find what works for you. When using cut bait, always run the hook through it 3 or 4 times if you can and run it through the thickest or meatest part of the bait.Hope this helps.

The way I rig whole shad on juglines or when drifting is to run the hook and the line through the eyeball then bring the point of the hook through just below the fin near the tail.

I hook shad just right above the black spot behind their head and bring it down to the middle of their stomach.

cut your shad in half and put both halves on there. will have to bite it to get it off. Sometimes if the shad is to big they will pull it off

Gentleman

I have one question. I have used shad on the red river with limited success. The shad you are using are fresh dead? I have used frozen and cant buy a bite. What would you recommend if I cant get fresh shad? I have a feeling the shad I buy from the bait store has been frozen a while.

Buy a casting net to get your own fresh shad. Get a seine and seine some fresh crawfish.

Rather than buy the frozen shad, but a jar of frozen shad gizzards. That is the only bought product, other than shrimp or liver later in the summer, that I have used with success. Punch bait is the best.

scrape the scales off your shad...fillet one side and weave the fillet on the hook. frozen shad sucks....

i fish red river alot with jugs,lines,&poles. i always hook my shad in the eyes first turn hook around and hook him in that black dot in its back. i think thats why the good lord give um that black dot so that 5 ot. hook . can hold him on.

Seigrist, as Jimmy mentioned above, I have done what you mention in your #3 above. I discovered this one evening when I was getting a bunch of shad ripped off my hooks, or getting them pulled in half.

I got to thinking about what a I learned years ago fishing for those green lipped sucker mouth fish, in conjunction with examining the few shad I had remaining on the hook when I reeled up. The fish were grabbing these shad by the head and just peeling them down the hook.

I started threading them on tail first, leaving the barb hanging through the eyeballs, and I never missed a fish the rest of the night.

With smaller shad I often do what doublek suggests. Bottom line, I always want that head, and I want those eyes near the barb.

But, as TexasBlonde mentions....Most times I just use punch bait with shad in it.

Ive useed frozen shad with success. But I onlybuy the 4-5" shad too. Its not the abit but the location and place that gives me fits at times. Anyway I like that size of shad as I cut them in half and out each half on a #4 Mustad hook. Have caught a few on Tawakoni when drifit fishing witha buddy in his boat this way and a few /at Hubbard bank fishing.
Dang Turltles like that approach two it aseems. I average atleast 1 a week of them onry things.
Used to try the Gizzards but heck near $10 bill and always too frozen. Have to get a minnow bag and fill it with warm ater to put the Jar of gizzards in ifin your going to use.
Never seem to do to well at Tawokini or Hubbard with them.
But then maybe Im holding my mouth right...always do well with big ole fat night crawlers ,channels,if you can take the lil Sandies stealing them at the rate of 5 to 1 catfish. Always did well in rivers with minnows,again for channels down SE Texas a few years back.

Jugline and Trotline I start the hook by the tail and work it out of its head. Reason I do this is because of the way I hook my shad fishing with a pole. I hook the shad through the head then lay the shaft of the hook up against the shad body. Then I half hitch the tail with my leader (I carolina rig when fishing for cats) I half hitch twice. When the fish hits the bait it is hitting my hook as well no matter where it hits the shad. I see and feel more bites and my catch rate is unbelievable. So when I use shad on the jug or Trotline I have the shaft threaded through the shad and the hook coming out of the head. Hope this helps

I will take a whole shad and chop it into 3 pieces. First piece on is the tail. In throught the body between the filetts and out through the spine. Next is the middle piece same way. Last goes the head. I make sure and put the hook through the skull until the point and barb come out. The bait stays on really really well this way. I don't have any problems with the bait getting sucked off unless it has been in the water for a loooonngg time or, god forbid, I am having to use frozen shad.