boat fishing with shads?

[bobo]

I am off boat fishing next week and was wondering how you fish with shads?
it might seem a daft question but ive only ever used daylights
thanks in advance

[kingcod deano]

i fish mine on a 6 foot flowing trace (boom) just drop down and reel up slowly about 8 or 9 turns then drop back down slowly odd times i twitch it while reeling up just to give it more movement

[The Great Wallsendo]

only just new to the shadding lark but already I disagree with the practice of long traces...all the fish I've caught have had no aversion to my 2-3ft traces (some shorter)

3 way swivel in a flowing trace stylee is one way - or with a boom like what Deano says...

I've personally found that longer traces tangle (or will get tangled around your crewmate/s)

...I'll duck back now for the more experienced in these matters to contradict me

[lingking]

shads

your are right,2 -3 foot trace does for me,although the longer traces work too,if your on a charter boat with 10 or 12 people using long traces tangle will occur.ill stick my neck oot the noo and say shorter traces tend to get ling longer ones cod

[oldessox]

I have a snap swivel tied to the end of my 50lb braid , to this I clip an 8oz lead via about a foot of 30lb amnesia and a swivel , the shad is tied directly to about 3ft of 40lb amnesia and this is also clipped to the same snap swivel on the end of my braid so when I lift the whole lot up with the rod the shad hangs about 2ft below the lead. Slowly lower the whole lot into the water and the shad will seperate from the lead with the tide movement , you will be able to see the action of the shad now as well ( I ditched a new pack of shads last trip out because they had as much action as a nun in a brothel)
Now you let the whole lot go down to the bottom , let the lead bump the bottom and close the reel , the shad being lighter will still be 3-4ft from the bottom , lift the lead gently off the bottom and s l o w l y wind 5 or 6 turns of the reel then thumb it back down , repeat as many times as you can during the drift , varying the speed of retrieve , often the fish will hit the shad hard and there is no mistaking it's a take , just as often the fish will nip at the shad 2 or 3 times before it actually takes the lure ..... DONT STRIKE! , just keep winding at the same speed till the line tightens.
If there's a fairly fast drift , you can forgo the winding up and down and just hop the shad along the bottom , same as before but once the lead hits bottom just lift it slowly the height of the rod and lower it back down till you feel the lead bump bottom again.

Ray

[Norman]

couldn't have put it better ray, spot on .......

but now enough of all that, lets be honest, these shad things don't work, so dont try them ...


norm

[lingking]

shads

well put ray! good bit of guidance there,and well explained. you should be a fishing coach

[The Great Wallsendo]

hardest thing in the world is training yourself NOT to strike when you feel the pluck pluck pluck

[lingking]

shads

took me brother in law pollock fishing out of staithes last year.had to tie his rod to the boats rail to stop him striking!!!!!!!!!!!! cost a fortune in cable ties

[CARR53]

I agree with oldessox, that is the way they fish shads down Whitby.

[northeast1]

I remember the days when me and my mate started using twin tails and shads out the Tyne, laughed at by many with words like..."only catches anglers not fish them" "nothing big will take them" "they seen you comming" now 12 years later it is common practice in the north east.

Also i dont really use shads i like the twin tails, not that i dont think they work as good as they do, i have just stuck with what i have done best on over the years.

Also 3ft max for me as works best for me.

[wildcard]

I think Ray has explained the two techniques well enough.

I would say the shad design and type of rod are the most important.

I reckon the best shads are the Daiwa megaforce ones, for 2 reasons. They only weigh 28g which is a big help in preventing tangles around your main line on descent. Also, the wire used to make the hook is of a round profile, so most times the hook will straighten out in snags and you will get the shad back. A quick bend with pliers, and your good to go again. These will save you a lot of money, and also keep you fishing instead of re tying rigs.

The worst are Storm shads. The new ones are 45g and tangle a lot even using 10" tubi booms. They also have forged hooks with a square profile to the wire. If you snag one of those, it is usually bye bye.

The best shadding rod I have ever used is the super kenzaki 20/30lb. Equally as good is the mk2 Shakespeare ugly stik 20/30lb (not the new one!)

If you get the technique and retrieve speed right it drives the cod nuts

But thats just what I think.

Alan

[The Great Wallsendo]

What makes a good shadding rod different to that of a "normal" rod Alan?

[wildcard]

What makes a good shadding rod different to that of a "normal" rod Alan?

I think if you are rough ground fishing, then hopping the shad is the best method. I always use cut down Penn uptiders or any 'tippy' rods for this.

If you try to hop the shad when wreck fishing it will snag everytime, so we always use the steady retrieve method. We have found that the rod action is probably the most important thing to catching the most cod. The super kenzaki using a slow retrieve twitches the rod and makes the shad tail work to perfection. They have a progressive action;

Daiwa 3-piece Kenzaki Braid Special boat rods - Planet Sea Fishing Digital Magazine

Dave Bruce bought my last 2 kenzakis and I went back to my Penns. He outfished me with the same shads 5 times in a row by 2 fish to my 1

I bought one back off him and now we catch fish for fish.

Alan

[mick dunn]

I think its like fly fishing-you are working the lure to look like a real thing.
I use black/orange fritz when fly fishing and these are pulled through the water at different varients. The shad on the bottom is exactly the same-its about causing the instinct of the fish to hunt and go for the smaller fish/meal.