SHAD talk ....

[P-row]

Totally agree! I look forward to your insight and ideas. Definitely makes me a better fisherman....Thx Ketchn!

[INTIMIDATOR]

We only have Gizzard Shad in Ohio...they are the baitfish staple for all of our fish...in our lakes they can grow to 14 to 18 inches, and the big ones are favored by Muskie, Pike, Big Bass, or Big Cats.
I have found 4-6 inch Shad inside Big Crappie.
Shad are part of the Herring family and are extremely oily, full of protein, and stink.
When born, gizzard shad have teeth and eat zooplankton etc., as they grow they lose their teeth and become filter feeders.
Very few of our established shad die during Winter...huge die-offs are caused by multiple rapid, water temperature changes...as long as they can slowly regulate their temperature, they are ok!
Shad are always moving and filtering food.
Our Crappie tend to follow schools of shad during the warm months, and feed on them at night when Crappie have the advantage.

[Ketchn]

Gizzard shad are a totally different beast here . they get real big and rarely die off . they will flat out hammer a jig in the dead of winter with a THUMP that cant be beat .
filled a 5 gallon bucket one day for a friend when i was winter dock fishing . they also love to graze like cattle on the algae on the rocks by the shore here .
They are also a much less favorable baitfish for crappie due to the way they live life and how fast they grow . They are only about the right size for a crappie for a very short period of time because they grow fast .
This coupled with the they dont run in very big schools makes them more of a big fish baitfish here .
but i am sure there are a few here and there that fall victim to the crappie at some point early in life .

[Ketchn]

threadfin shad for the most part dont do well in northern states , the upper range on them is like stated before , southern Ohio .
lots of other baitfish exist though and to be sure some are viable food sources as well .
maybe at a later date i will bring up the ole mississippi silverside , but thats another fishy story too ....

[INTIMIDATOR]

The 1st 3 pics are some of the shad we have caught on small swimbaits(???)
Pics 4&5, are perfect Crappie eaters...they normally stay crappie food for close to 2 yrs here.
Pic 6, two 4" pieces of shad from a 15 inch Crappie.

[Ketchn]

our warm waters grow fish very fast as you might know and down here gizzards/hickory shad grow really fast .
its probably the same thing from what i have read and understand about some of the northern black crappie and how long it takes them to grow to the same size as a southern crappie .
some lakes here grow white crappie to legal size in one year .
it might be quite possible the gizzards are in the edible size range for 2 years up north .
according to the fisheries head honcho they are only crappie edible size for very short time down here though .

[hdhntr]

cleaned several dozen over last few days and all of them had shad like in pics above. feeding frenzy is definitely on! great discussion guys, appreciate all your knowledge.

[Ketchn]

i rarely open a body cavity unless i have to on most everything these days i put the knife to .
this said stomach contents are a rare for thing for me to view .
i try to keep it on the not so nasty side when i open fish and quite often wild hogs as well .
one thing for certain crappie eat all kinds of prey .
i had a bud with a big ole 2 plus fish that opened it and found a rather large yellow bass in its stomach

[INTIMIDATOR]

i rarely open a body cavity unless i have to on most everything these days i put the knife to .
this said stomach contents are a rare for thing for me to view .
i try to keep it on the not so nasty side when i open fish and quite often wild hogs as well .
one thing for certain crappie eat all kinds of prey .
i had a bud with a big ole 2 plus fish that opened it and found a rather large yellow bass in its stomach

After I filet the fish I keep, I go back and open all the stomachs, and log the date, contents, patterns. It helps to verify alot of the things I see!

[Ketchn]

interesting for sure . i only once in a blue moon look at eggs to see development or lack of in the late winter until early summer .