Frozen shad cutbait?

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tom
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Frozen shad cutbait?
<p>I&#39;ve been seeing a lot of half dead shad along the rivebanks where I fish, So I grabbed a couple to freeze for cutbait later in the season. I know fresh is best, but these lil bastids are hard to catch, and cast nets are a no-no where I live. Anyone ever tried this?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>
andy
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frozen shad
It's a great bait from my experience, as long as you use it within 6 months. It gets mushy, but the smell is exceptional. Noticed lots of big shad by my work today, and i think I'm gonna put a few in the freezer for bait myself. Cats and sturg love it.
tom
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good to hear

thanks man!

SomewhereDownstream
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Garlic Powder

If you're after channel cats, any cutbait (or hotdog, or stinkbait, or whatever else you may happen to use) will catch more of you dump some garlic powder on there. 

I have not fished frozen shad, but bunker (menhaden) are commonly frozen for bait in the northeast, and those are similarly oily and stinky.

SomewhereDownstream

FP4LifesDad
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Huh, never tried it thanks man!

I love garlic myself, will have to try that on our catfish adventures.  Word of caution though don't use garlic on your stinkbait for vampire fish, it drives them away in droves! 

Dr Flathead
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If you were to dump garlic on

If you were to dump garlic on shad expect to come home to a locked door.  Man that would be the stink of all stinks.  Shad is a great bait no matter if its live, dead, frozen and thawed or even partly decomposed.  Caught lots of fish on all versions of it.

philaroman
philaroman's picture
great bait

on the East Coast, shad/herring can be the only bait that gets you a healthy dose of Stripers with your cats

to keep longer, vac-pack or freeze in a BLOCK of ice -- O2 is not your friend

P.E.T.A. sucks!!!  Plants are living things, too -- they're just easier to catch!

Goldenfishberg
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Jerky shad

Just the other day I caught me a sturg on a jerky styled piece of shad i found clinging onto a old 5 gallon bucket in my truck. Found out where that stink was coming from thats for sure. 

Ya just Can't catch um from the couch.