Lake Chicot - Catching shad in cold weather

[catmando2]

Any body have any information on where to find shad school's in the colder weather in a lake or reservoir? I fish Lake Chicot in south Arkansas mainly and in February or March I have a hard time finding them this time of year.

[Fordman]

Look on the bottom for the shad at this time year. I don't have tons of experience at finding them in the extreme cold weather, but in December Albert McBee and I found some in 10 feet of water, but right on the bottom. Last month at a tournament the guys reported shad at 30 feet, right on the bottom.

[NIMROD]

With the cold weather the water temps are 39 to 42 and shad are dying here. I keep seeing shad fluttering on top and birds as well as the fish are feasting.:big_smile: This is normal to have a winter kill as Shad can't tolerant much cold.

[Big Sam]

Check out the mouth's where the creek's run in I been bagging them all winter long in those spot's.....if all else fails use your depth finder on the lake they will be deep.

[777]

One tip I've read but haven't tried yet is to put grey duct tape around the parimeter of your cast net to help keep it open when throwing in deep water. Right now all the bait we are locating is in 30+ ft. of water hugging the bottom. Water temp 39 degrees.

[CaTmAnDo55]

in lake santee we are catching baitfish by the dams anywhere from 10 to 30 feet

[FishinRich]

I too have had trouble catching shad in cold water.Look for shallow bays with a little creek coming into it. Some times the water in these areas warm up enough to bring the shad up. Other times they will be deeper. One time in particular my brother said ,he could see shad on the graph but they were 30ft deep. After tying another length of rope to the cast net we were able to catch them. If they aren't shallow they gotta be deep. :lol:

[catmando2]

It look's like I may have to let the cast net go a little deeper than normal and hope I don't get caught up on bottom structure. I can usually catch enough to fish with but it may take an hour because sometimes in the colder months I may only get 0-3 on a cast so maybe a little deeper is the answer.

Thank's

[catdaddy007]

Try under the bridge at Connerly Bayou.I've seen shad being caught there this time of year.