Finding shad??? Help!!!

[hawgdiggity]

I keep hearing if you can find the shad you can find the crappie as a novice at best I have no clue how to go about finding them . Will I need graph s ? I have only the factory depth finders. I have several (honey holes) on most lakes I fish and if the fish aren t there the rest of my day is usually slow I need to find new wats of getting on the fish. Any help would be greatly appreciated .

["G"]

You can see them on your fish finder.......cloudy looking blobs suspended are groups of shad or what we call shad balls.

[RCC]

Finding shad and catching fish sometimes go together, but not always. Sonar is a good tool and the shad are easily identifiable. Small shad will look like clouds. Round clouds are not good. Elongated clouds are your friend. I will pm a few other tips.

[NIMROD]

Sometimes fish will push them up and look for the fish below or on the sides of Shad schools. Sonar is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to finding fish.

[coolerfull]

[usafret99]

if you go early look for shad slightly popping top of water, giant masses/clouds should show up on any depth finder. if now luck fishing in the exact area with shad go to either side. I've caught more crappie near shad than in or under the shad.

[LMBarnett]

go to google and search shad on sonar then click on the images link and there are lots of pictures of graphs with shad on them. All sorts of graphs from the $100 version to the high dollar side image ones.

[hawgdiggity]

Can someone recommend a decent graph for under 400.00 or is there even such a thing I know most of em are quite costly

[Roughneck]

What ever you get, make sure it is a color one. I find a sonar with GPS very helpful also for marking brush, ect.

[jmeador]

Do all lakes have shad?