Lake Lewisville first timer questions

Afternoon all...

My GF and I will be going out to Lake Lewisville either tomorrow or Saturday to try our luck at some catfishing out there. Seems the bite at our community pond no longer exists so she's ready to try another body of water. My trips over to the pond are now known as turtleing rather than fishing. I've been doing my research on LL via this forum, the bank fishing map, etc.. and have narrowed down our trip to either the fishing barge, one of the parks on LL or the old dam site. We have at our disposal some worms, some dough bait, some punch bait and some chicken liver. Neither one of us has ever tried to catch shad but I am going over to Academy today to pick up my first casting net. Have no clue how to throw but I'm thinking I'll head over to the pond this evening to try and figure it out. Once we're onsite, we'll also try to figure out how to catch shad via line and via net. With all this being said, wondering which site would be best for a couple of LL first timers. Me...I just love getting out, putting the line in the water and enjoying the outdoors. Catching a cat is the icing on the cake. My GF on the other hand...she does the love the outdoors but she wants some action on the end of the line!!! I know there's probably gonna be a lot of traffic on the water during the day so we will probably go at night. I also know that getting out on the water is how we're gonna learn but I thought I'd drop in here real quick and see what this friendly forum has to offer in regards to where they'd go if they were in my fishing from the bank shoes this weekend.

Thanks in advance
David

I haven’t been for some time, but I would try Westlake Park by the old dam. Try and find somewhere near deep water. Throw cut bait for the big boys and worms to get some constant action.

Fish on the sandy side early morning or night time. Too many jet fleas and big boats during the day. Hike to the end and try the cut at night too. Good for cats and hybrids. Rocky side is good for whites and channel cats.

Osbornfishing and JJ4MEL...thank you!!! Hoping we're able to get some fresh bait...would be pretty cool to catch some shad for the first time. We'll take the worms and a few other baits we have already just in case the fresh bait catch doesn't work out. I downloaded the Navionics app last night and I also have two of the Deeper fish finders. Both of those should help identify the deeper water areas in whatever location we hit.

Shad are easy at night under the lights. Boat ramps with a light are good areas to get them. I used to get mine at Tower Bay ramp. Good luck!

You tube is your friend on throwing a casting net, plus you don't have to go to the pond to learn just throw in it the back yard.

skip to 5:00

I am going to try this tonight.I have never caught shad in my net. I have caught a few on a jig. I have to practice after work first..

He's not going to be throwing a net that big. There's 100 video's, find a few ways to throw your size net and see which way works best.

I throw mine like this guy.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...34842DFC06261B5F3F4D3484&FORM=VDRVRV

Bentman63 and Bassdeer...thank you for the links. Both were good videos. In fact, I really liked the method the guy used in Bassdeer's link. I practiced it tonight and once I figured out the "let the net put the weight out of your left hand", the net started landing great.

what net?

So, last night I went to lake Arlington. I tried to catch shad and got skunked. This lady showed up and threw her net and caught some shad..she gave me some tips on throwing it. I will keep practicing

I went to Academy last night and picked up a Fitec Super Spreader Cast Net (6 ft.). I'll practice again this evening when it cools down. In regards to LL, we ended up going out to the fishing barge this morning and spent about 4 hrs there. Packet it up once the heat kicked in. There were a few gents that were there from 10pm last night til about 8am this morning. They said they caught a few channel but none were worth keeping. I caught a couple of blue gill and a very small channel. GF practiced casting a few different offerings but none were taken. There were probably 10-15 other people on the barge while we were there and no one was having much luck. Next time we go out to LL, we'll probably hit the old dam site or one of the eastern lake parks. Come on cooler weather!!!

If your wanting to learn to throw a net start out throwing it easy. Most people try to throw it to hard.

I checked out some videos today that had some easy ways of throwing it

One other trick, if you throwing with your right hand and have the tail of the net in your left, at the end of the throw, throw your left hand to the right kind of helping the net get it's circle.

Bassdeers video is probably the easiest method when first starting out. That’s the method I learned as a kid and that’s how I taught my 4 yr old to throw his first net. This method is good unless your throwing a deep hole net or your trying to throw a big net in the surf. Both require a little different throwing technique. I’ve seen cast nets thrown a dozen different ways. Find a technique that is comfortable and then practice a little each day in the back yard until you can make consistently good throws. You want to make your first 5 throws count.

Here is a video of my son learning to cast net this spring.
4 yr old throwing cast nets for Shad

he throws better than me. I went out yesterday and practiced at a local pond.. I caught perch almost every throw. and a small bass. But no shad

Bluegill works about as good as any bait Bentman and some days it’s the best bait to throw at em. I used them for years fishing them right next to gizzard Shad and on any given day one would outperform the other. Summer I chop em up and winter I fish em whole with one side filleted and the tail cut off. Not only do Blues love em but they also stay on the hook from all the little peckers so your not dragging empty hooks half way across the lake in the summer. Only reason I don’t bring a few with me these days is because my neighbor moved and I lost access. Not many ponds are going to have Shad in them unless they are deep ponds FYI.

I will go back and catch some and chop them up and freeze them.
I was going to catch some and use them alive as well. But when it gets cooler and right before I go

Freeze them whole. I found that keeps the oils and attractants more preserved. I normally go to a local pond and catch about 15. I place about 3-5 in a bag and freeze them whole. This way I can just take what I need on each trip.

Net throwing is the way to go. Practice makes perfect.

Do not throw it into rip rap unless you have mad skills. Take a look at the rocky side of the old dam. Walk out there you will see why I'm saying that... Net graveyard.

Bluegill are often as good if not better than shad in my experience on Lewisville. Gizzards being better than threadfins on the shad front. Gills offer a bonus in that they tend to stay on the hook a lot better that cut shad and you can often catch multiple fish on one piece of bait.

I see a few guys mentioning freezing bait, no disrespect to them or their experience, however I have personally never caught a fish on a bait that had been frozen, and I've tried.

You could do much worse than to go back and search El Gatos posts. Dude knows his stuff and has shared a ton of great info.

if you're just looking for some action and want to get some good eater size channels I'd suggest chuming with corn. Just cheap sweet canned corn. start by throwing out several handfuls of corn just about as far as you can throw them. Do a whole can. Then add a handful or so every 20 minutes. Use a simple 1/0 J hook with a fat nightcrawler and tip it with a few juicy corn kernels and cast right into the area you threw the corn.

If this does not get you bit in an hour than there are no fish in that area at the moment...move.

Watch your rod very closely, hold it or secure it because this will catch a ton of channel cats... AND also buffs and carp. A buff or carp will take your rod in the blink of an eye.

Good luck!

Namaste