Quote Originally Posted by adam7456 View Post
How long will shad/shiners live being trolled at 3mph? I know they can swim faster than that but there is a difference between burst speed for a short distance and being drug around at a constant speed for hours. Even going 1mph I can see my equipment starting to stress due to the extra speed.
i cant tell you for sure about the shiners, i dont use them. as far as shad go, it depends on the time of year , water temp, depth etc. it also depends on what your using, gizzard shad will almost outswim the boat lol so they are good at high speed. threadfins not so good at high speed, also when a threadfin dies rigormortis is almost instantaneous so the shape of the threadfin acts like a blade on a spinnerbait and twists your line up into the neatest little spring, so they dont do well at high speed. alewives do very well at higher speeds, as long as they are not in hot water. if you are seeing stress at 1mph you might have other problems? not sure? hook size/type?where are you hooking the bait exactly?
i can tell you this , with a proper chemically balanced bait tank, with the optimum water temp for dissolved 02, a good 02 system and good lively fresh bait, speed will not be an issue. if the alewives are premium they will actually outswim the speed of the boat pulling hook and leader and all when you hook em up and drop em in the water, you can watch them do this right beside the boat before you start dropping them down, i immediately pull a weak bait back in and change it before i even give it a chance.
also i do not keep my bait on for hours, 15 minutes is a long time to go without checking bait. i will change bait often even if i dont have much bait, weak lifeless bait is as good as none in my opinion,
all this stuff that i discussed is just what works for me, i wouldnt suggest anybody run out and pull the gills out of their freshly bought 2 lbs of shiners they just gave $30 for, if youre not comfortable with it dont do it. just remember there are a hundred ways to catch a HUNGRY striper, and zero ways to catch one that aint hungry