Greers Ferry Shad

[cruisor]

Hi All,

Was just sitting here thinking about crappie fishing and just read an article about the relationship between available size of baitfish, in this case shad, and baits selection.

With my very limited experience fishing for crappie and what I just read what is the size of the shad in Greers Ferry Lake? Are there more than just one type of shad and what are the color differences?

For Arkansas, are there different forage bases for instance in Greers Ferry Lake, Norfolk Lake, Lake Greeson, and Lake Dardanell just for examples?

After considering the size of the forage base what size baits does one go to?

So last of all, am I making this to hard on the brain and just fish instead of thinking to much?


Your thoughts would be appreciated!

Regards,

Lee

[Mac Daddy]

Lee, I think it's a good question. Maybe D10 can help you out.

[DRPEPPER]

I am certainly no expert on the subject. I only pull jigs and Bandits only on Greer's. I pull jigs during the spawn and late spring thinking shad will be smaller. In Summer and early Fall, I pull Bandits thinking they are bigger. Now, Greeson is different. Smaller the better all of the time. I have caught them with Bandits in the early Fall before. But, only once. Matter of fact, I do my best spider rigging brush with small minners on Greeson year round. Don't know why. They are similar lakes to me. DP

[D10]

There are two types of shad in almost all lakes an reservoirs, gizzard shad and threadfin shad. Their colors are almost identical. They have a slightly different shape to their mouths. Gizzard shad range in size from an inch to over a foot. Threadfin shad rarely exceed 5 inches. Threadfin shad are also susceptible to die offs due to very cold water temperatures. Gizzard shad are not. Shad are the main forage base (and biomass) in any system in which they are present. In other words, if they are in a lake, that is the main food source of all of the predatory fish, including crappie. As far as what sized lures to use on different lakes, I will refer to the crappie catching experts on this forum.

[D10]

Also, the most abundant size of shad in any lake will the current year class. They will get to a couple of inches by the end of their first year (in a typical growth year). This is what most fisherman are trying to match, the smaller one.

[BigRiverMarine]

Good info D10

[cruisor]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm just very curious about what others use as a go to bait. My only experience so far was trolling the Bandit 300 size lure this summer.

What kind of jigs are you trolling with? Do you have a color preference?

Regards,
Lee

[MEATGETTER]

When we power troll we use the 2 1\2 in Capps and Coleman jigs from SOUTHERN PRO TACKLE! !!!! but as the water temperature gets colder we will be slow trolling MINNER CRITTERS and MINNOWS! !!!!!!

[DRPEPPER]

Meatgetter is spot on. I power troll jigs @ 1MPH or slower. 1/4 onz pink heads with white skirt on Greer's. I try to keep them around 15' deep. DP

[humblerev1]

good to know