bait

[john]

live down here near damn. i have no trouble catching alwives to use as bait. I want to try using shad but have been told i need to go up river to find any. The question is can anyone tell how far up river , Blackwater or Roanoke, I need to go to start finding shad consistently. Do i just look in back of cove and spot them with sonar and how deep can my cast net get to them? I use a 12 foot cast net.

[mississipi]

You can find gizzards in the back of lots of creeks. I would prob go the back of Bull Run near the ski course or Gills Cr. On a sunny day look for the flips and try to throw right at the flip. Other days look for them on your graph or just make random throws. Follow your net down by keeping a snug line and snatch it back as soon as you hit bottom, a little less likely to hang your net. Hope you find them

[johnr]

Head over to smith mountain dock and lodge behind Anthony Ford. Can be some gizzards in there. Also in the very back of craddock will hold them - any of the fingers.

Get back in the very backs near inflows. You’re looking for the mudflats in 2-20’ depending on the weather and time of day.

Creeks between the state park and halesford bridge will hold them too, again very back of creeks near inflows.

[john]

Thanks for the help. Hopefully ill have a good report after next weekend.

[Htnbuks]

Is the bait still in those same areas? Was thinking of coming up tomorrow and catching some to freeze. Thanks

[piper]

IME Johns advice is spot on. I will say the last time I was in there, Craddocks was taken over by white bass so some marks/flips could be those. The farther back the better your chances.

[cftaylorjr]

John, I live down near the dam too and I feel your pain with gizzards. Not many places down here to look for them. I just spent a week at the lake last week and over the years have come to the conclusion that in late April and May, riding all over the lake searching for gizzards isn't worth it if your fishing down here. The full moon making the ales difficult to come by this trip is really the only reason i spent so much time looking for gizzards. I did find em in Gills but it wasn't easy. I've never had much success catching them in the back of Craddock.
I ended up catching as many fish this week on Ales as i did gizzards. I had both every trip and the fish liked the Ales just as good. In fact, I caught a 38", 24 lbish' fish off my dock on a 5" Ale. Had to jump on the boat to chase it down.
I'm sure the time of year has a lot to do with it too. I will make the effort for gizzards in the fall and fish up river more.
Fished Craddock, Bernards area, and the dam all week and the fishing was just ok. Wind was brutal certain days.
Always great to spend a week at the lake with great friends and family no matter how good the fishing.