the moon seems to keep the shad down why ?

[bassmanshawn]

seems like when moon gets bright the shad go down

[bassmanshawn]

seems like when moon gets bright the shad go down

must be just me

[stripernut]

shawn i know what your talking about....but whats more confusing is why do the shad go down when the moon gets high in the sky one night , and the very next night it has zero effect on them.

ya got me.....if you ever find out i would know myself

[stripernut]

would love to know

[fishincreek]

Water temps? Wind? Boat traffic?

[HURRICANEBOB]

IMHO: The shad are up at night mating, with the female doing her dance on teh surface and the male moving into to add fertilizer. I just don't think they like to do that "in near daylight conditions". You know.....privacy.

Actually, I think mother nature taught them this as a survival tactic. When the moon is up and bright, they would tend to me more profiled at the surface for predators to hit them. I think they try to spawn on darker banks, as its hard for predators to see them at the surface. On full moon nights, I look for the banks that get "shaded" as the moon passes over.

Side note for grins. I don't think shad hav too much to worry about from Stripers based. I say that because I had many Striper swat at my Zora spook this last trip, and only a few actually found the lure. I'm sure being an old fart, I can't move a Zora Spook as fast as a shad runs! :-)

[publican57]

Hurricane Bob; what you said was good but not good enough to post twice

[bassmanshawn]

makes since to me `

[HURRICANEBOB]

Hurricane Bob; what you said was good but not good enough to post twice

Old fart, I couldn't remember if I did or not. Actually tried to edit the spelling and got twins. That happened to me once in college, but she left me the first time we went fishing and she saw my dingy.

Man I wish that had a delete my post function on this board.

[pct]

Hurricanebob,

This is some funny stuff.... lol.

The last two years of fishing at night we had one year with full moon and one year with no moon. Its nice to have a full moon to see but I did have to fish the banks with shade to find fish. Last year was with no moon and LOTS of lumber in the water. Scary stuff.

Hopefully this year will be 1/2 moon and little lumber.

PCT

[stripernut]

lets keep the fingers crossed with NO lumber....the moon will take care of itself

one quick note about the dark banks....if i really want to fish a bank that i know holds alot of fish and the moon is shining on it, i dont throw topwater, i like (and i mean REALLY like) the smack tackle gizz4, steady retrieve and get in the habit of not setting the hook, in the moonlight you will get alot of bumps as they can see the bait and make several swats at it before they hammer it.

[pct]

Stripernut,

That might be tough for me NOT setting the hook.. As my current Walleye fishing has me on edge with tiny bites / ticks of line mean hit the triger.

Each year I have to remind myself when top water fishing to NOT set the hook on sound or when the striper blows up on the lure. I have hooked my guide, my fishing buddy and myself before on early hook sets.

I have some of the Gizz4's and most likely be trying them. Do they work during the day time also?