Bait and dinner!

[saxrulez]

So I bought a cast net a couple months ago and it has sat in my boat mostly unused until tonight. I learned how to throw it when I bought it, but never caught anything with it.

Well tonight was crazy! I went fishing by myself today. I found a good spot to anchor and started catching fish right away. I could see 3-4 schools of baitfish getting chased around. I had 2 lines sitting out waiting when one of the schools started getting close to the boat. I grabbed the castnet and made a good throw. I could tell when I was pulling the net in that I had some fish in there. I caught about 20 shad in that one cast. While I was bringing the net in, BOTH of the fishing lines I had out started running the drag out. All in all, it was an awesome night of fishing. I caught about 6 catfish, 6 or 7 white bass, 1 wiper, and a whole net full of baitfish. I kept the wiper and the catfish and just finished cleaning em.

The shad should last me the rest of the year for catfish bait. I think I paid for the cast net in one throw!

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: Bait and dinner!

if i loose my net i have to go to the store. i fish almost strictly for catfish and dhad is my primary bait of choice and bluegills too. i usually get 20-30 shad before every outing. i always use fresh. and ive been known to get carp catfish and largemouth in it from tome to time and crappie all the time. the bass and crappies get released.

 

[saxrulez]

Re: Bait and dinner!

I think I'm going to try the frozen shad for a bit, but bow that I have my cast net throw down, I will probably start using fresh most of the time.

 

[Nightfisher-]

Re: Bait and dinner!

Those small shad will turn to mush after they thaw. You can get away with freezing really big shad over 10", but fresh bait is always better than frozen. I keep a few frozen only as emergency bait, or for when I'm taking the kids fishing and don't want to mess with setting my gill net or throwing the cast net. The ones in the pic are the perfect size for big kitty live bait! You can keep about a half dozen alive in a plastic washtub with an air pump and some pickling salt added to the water.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: Bait and dinner!

night fisher is correct. shad dont freeze well. there fragile fish. thats why i always use fresh. and in warm weather i catch them toss into bucket or live well and ice them. even fresh in the heat will get mushy and fall off hook easy.

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Bait and dinner!

Maybe I'm forgetting or just being dumb,...but what's a wiper?

 

[saxrulez]

Re: Bait and dinner!

Its a hybrid bass. White bass + Striper = Wiper.

They are a real good time to catch. They put up a hell of a fight.

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Bait and dinner!

Ahhhhhhh yes, a hybrid. Hmmm, never heard the wiper lingo before. Yes they are fun to catch, strong fish, even the smaller ones. Anyways though, yeah cast nets are fun sometimes. We were catching groups of shad in shallow water one time and landed a 15 inch largemouth in the net that just happened to be chasing them!

 

[bqtoot]

Re: Bait and dinner!

Couldn't resist this story when I saw the title of this thread:
Lived in Savannah, GA once, and went fishing for speckled trout. Stopped by the bait and tackle store with my bucket and aerator for some live shrimp as bait. When the guy scooped the shrimp from their tanks into my bucket, I couldn't believe the size of the shrimp! I went home and cooked the shrimp instead. Dang it was good!

 

[fishndirk]

Re: Bait and dinner!

LOL! That's awesome. Probly a lot cheaper than store bought shrimp too.

 

[saxrulez]

Re: Bait and dinner!

Couldn't resist this story when I saw the title of this thread:
Lived in Savannah, GA once, and went fishing for speckled trout. Stopped by the bait and tackle store with my bucket and aerator for some live shrimp as bait. When the guy scooped the shrimp from their tanks into my bucket, I couldn't believe the size of the shrimp! I went home and cooked the shrimp instead. Dang it was good!

Hahaha, that is awesome.

I went fishing tonight and got skunked unfortunately. I'm not sure why but the flies tonight were terrible(biting kind). I had the wife with me and she was absolutely miserable, so we didn't stay very long at all. The good news is, I definitely seem to have catching shad down. I caught another net full on my first throw again today. I have a few spots now that I've pinpointed for catching shad. I need to get some good circle hooks and find some good spots for blue catfish.

If anyone has any advice on finding good spots for the bigger catfish that I would catch on live shad or cut shad heads, I'm all ears. I can definitely net some good shad on each trip out now.

 

[catfish58]

Re: Bait and dinner!

I don't know what type water you fish but I fish Wheeler Lake which is a Tenessee River empoundment in North Alabama. The bigger Blue Cats seem to cruse the edge of the main channel. I usually drop anchor just at the dropoff and can fish both the deep channel and the shallower flat at the same time.