Night fishing with light and shad net

4166 Views 103 Replies 14 Participants Last post by fisherman505, 12 h ago

fisherman505

Discussion Starter · 1 mo ago

Thought I would start a threat devoted to night fishing with lights. Feel free to add to it if you want to.

Went out of Cranfield and got down on the water just before dark at 8:15. Motored to the shoreline I wanted to fish and nosed the boat in and threw the anchor in about 5 feet of water. Backed out to 45 feet of water and dropped the other anchor and then jocked the two lines until the boat was 30-feet of water. Dropped my submersible LED light over the side and let it sink down 10-feet and then positioned the 1/2 inch shad net with the top at light-level and hanging six feet below the light. The water was very clear and the light was perfectly visible at 10-feet.

In about 15-minutes, shad started to show up on the fish-locator and 10 minutes later, I had enough shad in the net to hang four rods over the side in rod-holders. I put small clip-on bells on the rod tips so I can tell when something is messing with the shad. Since the back of the boat was in 30-feet of water, the front was 17-feet out in maybe 36 feet of water and I had three rods with shad one foot off the bottom and one rod down 20-feet with a shad chugging round for any suspended fish.

Big fish were not all that aggressive and the fishing wasn't all that great but I did manage to get two six pound hybrids and one 13-inch crappie. I also caught a 17-inch walleye that I threw back but forgot to take a picture of it. Anyway, I'll run this thread for this moon-phase which lasts about 20 days until the moon gets too bright for fishing with a light.

Here's a picture of the fish caught and I'll post more pics of fish and setups as the thread progresses. I should be out there for most of the 20 or so nights, weather permitting.

Fin Fish Marine biology Ray-finned fish Tail

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #41 · 27 d ago

Night of 14 May:

Got to my first place and first fish up was a 19-inch walleye.

Fish Fin Marine biology Water Human leg

Lil bit later, a 17-inch walleye which I threw back:

Fin Requiem shark Underwater Fish Marine biology

Fishing was slow so I decided to try a flat out on the main lake. Brought in the net to put the shad in the live well:

Water Fluid Underwater Electric blue Marine biology

Sat out on the flat for an hour and half with four rods out with shad chugging around and never got a bite. Brought the rods in and let the shad go and went home. Water temp was 76 and none of the shad in the live well died.

Cheers.....

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Dmille5

· #42 · 27 d ago

Have you tried adding any of the chemical additives to help keep the shad alive?? I’ve had some luck using the SHAD ALIVE chemical.The biggest help was switching from my 120 qt cooler to a round live well I made from a 35 gallon plastic barrel I cut in half.I was skeptical that switching to the round holder would help but it made a big difference.An older guy told me the shad would continously slam into the square cooler sides until they killed themselves.When I switched to the round tank it defo helped.I bait with my lines with live shad for flatheads every now and then and cooling the water,using the chemical,and the round tank has really helped on having LIVE BAIT.

K-Mo

· #43 · 27 d ago

Salt helps keep Shad alive. Round white tanks. In tank aerators. Cool water. And don’t look at them crossways either….

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #44 · 27 d ago

I really haven't had the need for a stand-alone shad tank. When the surface water gets too hot for the shad, I just keep the net down deep in their comfort zone. As I mentioned before, I've kept them alive in the net for the entire night of fishing and in fact shaked them out of the net to swim off when I finished fishing. What you are describing is definitely a great idea for a boat "on the go" but I have two anchors out all night so my boat aint going anywhere.

I had a fishing buddy who was a striper guide and he had to have a tank like you describe for his fishing business. The tank was huge and he tended that thing like an aquarium with the various chemicals to keep the fish alive (water was blue) with an aerator and ice when it got hot. The tank itself ran him around $400 and as you said above, it was round. He had a 20-foot Champion boat and this thing took up a lotta room in the middle of the boat. Back in those days, they used 6-8 inch Gizzard Shad for stripers and they are even tougher than Threadfin Shad to keep alive. He need this setup to guarantee a good fishing trip for his clients and he also moved around the lake a lot trying to track down the schools of stripers.

Cheers.....

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K-Mo

· #45 · 27 d ago

I’ve got a load of threadfin coming for my pond Tuesday. Coming from Alabama. Over $53/pound before the deliver fee and it’s $2/mile. Sure would be nice to figure out a way around all that, but since you can’t even move water, much less fish….legally…..Watcha gonna do….

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #46 · 26 d ago

Wow. Sure hope most of them get to you alive. You must have a pretty big pond to support threadfins. I have a 1 1/2 acre pond behind the house that I would like to throw some threadfin in but I think the Summer heat or just lack of food would kill them all within a year. Threadfin feed off plankton and my pond is kinda murky with something but not sure it's threadfin food. Threadfin also like 65-degree water, although they will tolerate higher for some period of time. But if it gets over 80 degrees or so, it's croak time. Would be interesting to hear if you have any left after a year or so. When I was out on the Left Coast, I brought a big thermos jug back with a bunch of mosquito fish that my brother had in his pond. I threw them in my pond and the place is crawling with mosquito fish now. They reproduce like crazy (live births) and everything in the pond loves to eat them.

Cheers.....

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K-Mo

· #47 · 26 d ago

fisherman505 said:
Wow. Sure hope most of them get to you alive. You must have a pretty big pond to support threadfins. I have a 1 1/2 acre pond behind the house that I would like to throw some threadfin in but I think the Summer heat or just lack of food would kill them all within a year. Threadfin feed off plankton and my pond is kinda murky with something but not sure it's threadfin food. Threadfin also like 65-degree water, although they will tolerate higher for some period of time. But if it gets over 80 degrees or so, it's croak time. Would be interesting to hear if you have any left after a year or so. When I was out on the Left Coast, I brought a big thermos jug back with a bunch of mosquito fish that my brother had in his pond. I threw them in my pond and the place is crawling with mosquito fish now. They reproduce like crazy (live births) and everything in the pond loves to eat them.

Cheers.....

I’ve got some gams on order also. They give em out for free in Memphis to keep mosquitoes down. Did they give them to you for free out West? Lot of places out there give them out at the county office. The cold is way more of a concern for me than the heat. I’ve got a 2ac rock quarry that’s about 20ft deep. They only sell Shad by the half load or full load. A half load is enough for 10ac, so they say, so I should have a good jump start. If they take, the hybrids are gonna have a blast when they go in this Fall.

fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #48 · 26 d ago

I assume you mean hybrid crappie or maybe strain of black bass?? 20 feet deep mite save the shad. But don't think 2 acres can support them with food over the long run. Die off on shad up here on Norfork is about 39 degrees. Shad also go deep when it's cold. Up here, I usually find them at 30-40 feet in the Winter, right on the bottom. If you tell me those are hybrid stripers in that rock quarry, I'm gonna think you're pulling my leg.

Cheers.....

K-Mo

· #49 · 26 d ago

fisherman505 said:
I assume you mean hybrid crappie or maybe strain of black bass?? 20 feet deep mite save the shad. But don't think 2 acres can support them with food over the long run. Die off on shad up here on Norfork is about 39 degrees. Shad also go deep when it's cold. Up here, I usually find them at 30-40 feet in the Winter, right on the bottom. If you tell me those are hybrid stripers in that rock quarry, I'm gonna think you're pulling my leg.

Cheers.....

Absolutely hybrid stripers. Feed trained hybrids in small ponds are all the rage now. We added 20 tons of lime and a few hundred pounds of fertilizer to initiate and maintain a plankton bloom for the Shad. The hybrids should occupy the open water niche with the Shad really nicely. At least that’s the plan. If the threadfin don’t work out, when about 75% of my biomass is fish over 3lbs, I’m gonna stock gizzard Shad.

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #50 · 26 d ago

Wow. I am impressed K-Mo. Wonder how big will they get in a 2 acre pond? World record is 27 pounds and we've seen them up here better than 20. But if their growth is restricted by size of water, maybe 5-10 pounds would be the limit. Those things are eating machines though and no amount of shad you are gonna buy will satisfy them. Is there a lake around you that has shad in it? Real simple to catch them at night with lights/net and the guides catch them here early in the morning with throw nets. My striper-guide buddy and I used to go down around Batesville on the White and he'd throw a net below the wing-dams and catch his gizzard shad way back when. Can't believe the G&F would get uppity with you putting them in a small pond like that although I could understand their rationale if you dumped them into a big body of water they controlled.

Would be interested to see how that shad/hybrid thing works out after a year or two and hope you post something on it. It's kind of obvious that you have a bunch of happy fish in that video. That's a beautiful pond, incidentally.

Cheers.....

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K-Mo

· #51 · 26 d ago

fisherman505 said:
Wow. I am impressed K-Mo. Wonder how big will they get in a 2 acre pond? World record is 27 pounds and we've seen them up here better than 20. But if their growth is restricted by size of water, maybe 5-10 pounds would be the limit. Those things are eating machines though and no amount of shad you are gonna buy will satisfy them. Is there a lake around you that has shad in it? Real simple to catch them at night with lights/net and the guides catch them here early in the morning with throw nets. My striper-guide buddy and I used to go down around Batesville on the White and he'd throw a net below the wing-dams and catch his gizzard shad way back when. Can't believe the G&F would get uppity with you putting them in a small pond like that although I could understand their rationale if you dumped them into a big body of water they controlled.

Would be interested to see how that shad/hybrid thing works out after a year or two and hope you post something on it. It's kind of obvious that you have a bunch of happy fish in that video. That's a beautiful pond, incidentally.

Cheers.....

Oh that’s not my pond. Sorry, didn’t mean to give that impression. My hybrids and tiger bass won’t go in until this Fall, to hopefully give the forage base time to establish. Yeah, I live in Bville and it would be a LOT cheaper to be able to just bet them, but baby Asian carp look like Shad, so……..
But I’ve been following along on this thread intently, and thinking of using your inspiration to be come an outlaw fish smuggler😎

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #52 · 26 d ago

This picture sorta sucks but it's the best I can do of taking a picture of near invisible line. But what that picture depicts is 12-inches of 30lb test mono attached to a swivel with the upper piece having a sliding finesse sinker on the line. Below the swivel is another 12-inches of 18lb test with a #6 Circle Hook. This setup allows the shad to swim in a circle around the swivel. The leader needs to be stiff enough that the shad won't tangle with the top leader, especially as you lower it down 30 or so feet. The reason for the two different weight lines is if the shad gets into the brush or snags up, you just break off the bottom and don't loser your whole rig.

Wood Pattern Flooring Rectangle Artifact

And here's is that alert bell so I can tell when a fish is messing with a rod in the rod holder. The purpose of the tape is if it weren't there, that bell assembly would fly off the first time you set the hook on something.

Automotive lighting Gas Electrical wiring Auto part Asphalt

Cheers.....

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #53 · 26 d ago

K-Mo said:
Oh that’s not my pond. Sorry, didn’t mean to give that impression. My hybrids and tiger bass won’t go in until this Fall, to hopefully give the forage base time to establish. Yeah, I live in Bville and it would be a LOT cheaper to be able to just bet them, but baby Asian carp look like Shad, so……..
But I’ve been following along on this thread intently, and thinking of using your inspiration to be come an outlaw fish smuggler😎

Ah, so. Well best of luck in your endeavors and I sure hope they work out for ya. If you are successful, I hope you post a story on it and if I don't see a story, I'll think it didn't work out and you stocked the pond with catfish.

As far as getting those shad down on the White, just tell Mr. Greenjeans that Fisherman505 said it was okay and he'll let ya off. Trust me.

Cheers.....

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #54 · 26 d ago

Night of 15 May:

Sure hard to figure these fish out. Caught one big 15-inch slab crappie and a couple of white bass. Had a ton of shad so can't blame it on lack of bait. The fish would just inhale the shad and sit there without moving the rod tip. All three fish had swallowed the hook. Believe I will try the river tonight and see if I can give the walleye a hard time. If I do any good, I'll post a picture here.

I mentioned my use of a stringer to hang fish on when the water is too hot on the surface. Here's what it looks like:

Gas Wood Luggage and bags Automotive lighting Metal

That's 3-lbs of lead to sink the fish down 20-30 feet, if need be, to put them in cold water. I need at least 3-pounds to do it if I have two or three stripers that want to go belly-up on the stringer. After 15-20 minutes on this stringer back in their comfort zone, I do believe I could let those stripers go and they would survive.

Cheers....

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #55 · 25 d ago

Organism Fin Fish Marine biology Underwater

Well, the river was better than the lake. Picture is a bit deceiving because those two "little" walleye are 18 and 19 inches. I didn't have anything to measure or weigh that big female but it must have been up in the 7 or 8 pound range. Was probably a 10-pounder before it spawned. Anyway, I let her go to spawn again. Walleye that big are always females and really not that great eating and better off released. Her tail was pretty well tore up and there was a large scrape on her side. I've caught a few males that were still flowing milt.

Cheers.....

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #56 · 23 d ago

Went to the same spot I caught the above fish and used the same lures and got two bites and no fish. Such is fishing.

Thought I'd touch on netting material for shad nets. The two sizes needed are 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch and if you want to cover all bases maybe the 3/4 inch for larger adult threadfin shad. But the best all-round net would be the 1/2 inch. You don't need a net that hangs much over 6-feet long because it's a bit difficult to drag in and get the shad out of.

You can get the netting at: Memphis Net & Twine. They have a ton of different kinds but you definitely need monofilament and I find the #3 Mono the best. It is sold by the pound and you don't need over one pound which is enough to build many nets with. My favorite sizes is 3/8 inch with a 5 foot depth and 1/2 inch with a 6 foot depth.
You can see the stuff here: #3 Mono Netting, Sold by the Lb.

My preference for rods is the all-thread in 3/8 inch like sold at Home Depot: Search Results for all thread rod at The Home Depot. But you can use just about any rod including wood if you want to put weights on the bottom to take the rod down and provide tension on the net. The thing about all-thread is once you spread the net across the rod, the threads will hold it in place so it doesn't slip to one side or the other. They are also heavy and will provide weight to keep the net tension tight.

To hang the net, I like to use a line like this from Home Depot: Everbilt 5/32 in. x 75 ft. Neon Colors Polypropylene Diamond Braid Rope with Winder 72846 - The Home Depot. It's really strong and thick enough to handle easily and there's enough rope there for maybe three nets. Here is a picture of how I hang my nets:

Rectangle Triangle Grey Flooring Wood

Hard to see but there is a centerline tying the hanging knot to the center of the rod. Not really centered but close enough for government work.

Cheers.....

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #57 · 23 d ago

Night of 18 May:

Beautiful night out there at 73 degrees and clear skies. No wind either. Shad were easy to come by but the bite wasn't all that great, unless you like stripers. The water temp in my live well was 79.6 degrees but I chucked 15-20 shad in it anyway just to see how they would do. Not a one of them died so guess I have a few degrees to go.

Anyway, caught this nice 10.6Lb striper:

And after two hours of fishing, this was one I caught:

That medium size white bass and 14-inch crappie look pretty small. I had the fish on a stringer 20-feet down so I was able to let the white and crappie go. That catfish is gonna end up on the plate.

Cheers......

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NA3VY

· #58 · 21 d ago (Edited)

Thanks so much for the tutorial on the shad net sizes. I use the 3/8 and 1/2 inch sizes, but sometimes they look so small. I'll probably eventually get the 3/4 inch size which equates to 1.5 inch stretched holes. BTW, for all to know the Max size gill net you can use is 1 inch mesh which when measured on the diagonal (stretched) measures 2 inches. I still need to come down to Batesville to catch a bunch of skippies top freeze for catfish cut bait. I can then go run pool noodles on nights it is too bright (moon) to use green lights.

BTW, gill net has two dimensions listed. Mesh size is the size of the sides of the squares of the net. STRETCH is the diagonal measurement across the mesh. It's the diagonal measurement that catches the bait. Too big and bait swims through. Too small and you don't get any in the net. I checked Memphis net for prices on the 3/4 mesh and they are now $30.67 per pound with a 1 pound minimum. Smaller mesh costs more since it uses much more mono to make it. I'd suggest a couple of people getting together to make nets to defray the cost. You can make about 6 nets per pound of net for the 3/8 mesh.

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #59 · 20 d ago

Rained the 19th.
Night of 20 May:

Had a choice of either the river for walleye or the lake for stripers, which I didn't want so I chose the river. Pretty slow but I did get two nice walleye with the biggest being 25-inches.

I'll be back in the Cranfield area with my light and net tonight.

Cheers.....

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fisherman505

Discussion Starter · #60 · 20 d ago

Night of 21 May:

Another nice night, weatherwise with clear skies, no wind, and a 2% setting moon. Wish the fishing was better but hey, that's fishing. Had no trouble catching shad.

I did catch this nice 20-inch walleye on a shad swimming around at 20-feet in 30-feet of water:

And caught this 4-lb hybrid right on the bottom in 38-feet of water:

Other than that, I caught one small white bass. I did have two more hybrids on but one got into my stringer which was hanging 20-feet down and the other found my bow anchor rope. I decided to try another place since fishing was a bit slow and never caught a fish there so I should stayed put.

Cheers.....

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