I see alot of you all have trouble with getting bait this year. I went dry on bait the first two trips out this year, catsing in the spots I have gotten bait for the last five years, no bait. The next time out I took along my 12 foot cast net and tied on another 20ft of hand line. I would find the schools in about 25-40 foot of water, I would get a net full. I have never seen gizzards stay down so deep. Sometimes durning the summer,but not all year long. Last weekend I was on the Ohio near brandenburg and I got most of my gizzards in about 22ft of water, and most of the skips were running the banks. So if you are having a hard time finding shad running the banks, try the deep water. A smaller net will work but you will need more weight on it. My 12 footer as a lb of lead for every foot. I would try on some extra weight on the 5-8 footers. I hope this will help. Not saying every water hole is like this but I do know the rivers are.