Shad summer tactics

[stripersonly]

Hey guys, I’ll be at SML throughout July and August. I’ve got a fancy new bait tank I need to fill with Shad.

Where about on the lake can I best find alewives? In the past I’ve been successful finding some gizzards in the back of creeks at dusk. But I’ve never been able to catch alewives.

Any tips?

[piper]

Id start with dock lights after dark. Warmer water probably has them running a bit deeper but should come up at some point. Craddocks on up to the bridge should do you good. Have fun.

[mississipi]

Rig you up a good led spotlight, anchor on low moonlight night and wait. It might take 15 min or an hour. If one spot dont produce try another. Sometimes it helps to turn oft the light just as you throw. I like 25 ft of water or less because of likelyhood on landing on a tree and it's easier to work anchor. Hope it helps

[johnr]

Find some deep dock lights and get to throwing. Anytime between 10pm and 4/5am should be good.

Sometimes you can find them schooled during the day, in creeks and coves. They are easy to catch then, just finding them is the problem.

[stripersonly]

Stupid follow up question - when you all throw on deep dock lights, are you just trolling up to whatever lights on main channels are brightest and blindly throwing? Or are you side scanning first to see if there’s bait? How close are you throwing to the dock itself?

I’m down in Hatcher creek, and the channels are super wide down there, doesn’t seem to be a ton of bait around from what I see right now but there are a few marinas with lights I can throw around to start until my new spotlight gets here.

Let me know thanks!

[johnr]

Almost any dock light in more than 10’ of water will have bait in that part of the lake. Usually you can see them swarming the light, other times they’re off in the shadows.

[piper]

Jul 1, 2022 6:00:43 GMT -5 stripersonly said:

Stupid follow up question - when you all throw on deep dock lights, are you just trolling up to whatever lights on main channels are brightest and blindly throwing? Or are you side scanning first to see if there’s bait? How close are you throwing to the dock itself?

I’m down in Hatcher creek, and the channels are super wide down there, doesn’t seem to be a ton of bait around from what I see right now but there are a few marinas with lights I can throw around to start until my new spotlight gets here.

Let me know thanks!

In my limited experience not much happening in Hatchers. I’ve worked that area pretty good in my day. Head on back toward Mariners . The boat slips are good . Also your bound to find a few gizzards in the shallows. Watch out for trees though.

[stripersonly]

Thanks all for the tips. We just ended a weeks vacation at the lake and we were successful in catching bait. But it did take A LOT of throws with the net to get bait.

We were using a submersible green LED light to attract the fish which seemed to do a decent job.

I’m throwing an 8ft, 13lbs net in about 14 ft of water. I’d say each throw averaged 1-2 alewives per cast, the most we’d get was maybe 5. But and as you’d imagine we need about 30 per day to not run out of bait.

A few more questions for you guys;

What kind of lights are the best in your experience for attracting bait to the dock? Above water, submersible? White vs green vs blue lights?

How big of a cast net should I be throwing? Is 8ft big enough?

[johnr]

Above water. I think the sodium lights tend to produce the most consistent bait. Halogen lights are good too, shining right on the water. I have an expensive green light that I can hang over the side of the boat, and I can’t ever remember catching much bait with it.

For alewives at lights I like to use a 10’ 3/8” mesh, 1.5lb/ft. If the light is good at attracting bait, one or two throws should do it.

[stripersonly]

Thanks John.

I like the idea of a light that will attract the bait but not blind the neighbors. So was leaning towards more of that sodium/ warm glow instead of crystal clear white LED.

Let me know if anyone has a link for a dock light that has served them well!

Thanks!

[mississipi]

I think a submersible is fine but I've found, for me anyway, a white led spotlight aimed straight down works best. It sometimes just takes time, maybe an hour or more. Nites with bright moon can be tough, the bait comes to the light but dont always concentrate. If the moon is bright I will look for a dark area that maybe the trees is blocking the direct light of the moon.I use a 3/8 8' old salt. Works fine. Sometimes throwing to the darker edges of the light will produce.