Shad vs chubs

[erickol]

Hello,

I have a spot near home where I catch my bullheads, and also get plenty of chubs there. Let's say I were to freeze these chubs to let the ice break up the cells and make 'em ready for nice juicy cut bait, would they be in the same neighborhood as frozen shad? Or are shad in general (frozen or otherwise) just that much more oily and tasty?

What size live shad are you all getting from the river, and what size frozen are you fishing from the bait shop?

One more, how long does Moore's usually carry shad this time of year? Thanks, Eric

[dps]

Moores tries to carry shad year around. He goes through a ton of them this time of year, and even more from march-august. Most of the shad are 1.5" - 4" long(depends on what is running when harvested), very rarely do you see bigger shad here, never in quantity. All of the shad are harvested during the fall run, and during the winter if they can be obtained.

Comparing chubs to shad? I wont make any comparison, they are each their own baits... very good baits. You may as well add suckers to that list too. Each of those baits are not going to be the *go-to* bait for every place in every situation fishing for cats(or sturgeon). Different areas fish will have different bait preferences.. and that can(and does) also change by season in any given area you choose to fish.

If you harvest minnows(of any type), they will hold well if you freeze them immediately.. either fresh from live, or thrown on ice immedately from live to transport to the freezer. If they die and age(in minnow bucket) a bit before freezing, you will usually end up with mushy bait when its thawed out. Some fish hold a little better than others.. Suckers give you the most time, chubs little less.. and shad have to be in the freezer immediately or they will be mush.

Which is better, shad or chubs? (referring to dead bait)

I would say neither, they are both excellent and will provide equal action in their best situation. The shad might catch more in march, but the chub might stand out in july in the same spot.

[Flaco651]

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I would say neither, they are both excellent and will provide equal action in their best situation. The shad might catch more in march, but the chub might stand out in july in the same spot.

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I totally agree with you there.

In march and april of this year shad was the go to bait. When Moore's would run out of shad or even emeralds, it was hard to catch channels. A fresh cut sucker was pretty much worthless that early in the season for me. Through most of May and thru the summer cut sucker and creek chub were good. Now that the shad are schooling up again they are becoming hard to beat for cut in the metro.

[erickol]

Thanks,

I think I'll start keeping a notepad in my bag so I can compare whats hitting on what and when.