American Shad

 Today I want to look at a topic that is somewhat foreign to me, and yet it feels familiar.  I know right, going full-on crazy in the first sentence. Maybe the right description to use is it feels natural, or logical. I am referring to baitfish, or to be more precise, using live bait as a means to catch fish. More often than not, baitfish is the go-to bait for live-lining. I’ve come across this concept and style of fishing before, but it is something I have hardly ever done, and thus I need to explain a few things.

I only recently started experimenting with live-lining. I am aware that it is something that some South African anglers do. I have seen many seven-inch Bluefish (Shad in SA) being used to catch big fish along the eastern coast of Southern Africa. Likewise, I have seen people using frogs to catch catfish. But as far as fishing goes for the regular angler, these are very niche fishing methods. The closest thing the average guy gets to live-lining would be to use earthworms. And even then, most worms are killed when being applied to the hook.

As stated, it makes sense to use the available food source as bait. But most, if not all, bait shops I went to growing up, seemingly offer frozen shrimp and not live shrimp. From a business perspective, obtaining and maintaining live bait is not as lucrative. Obtaining your own baits can be even more challenging with many rules and regulations governing this. Cost, risk, and effort mean that most SA anglers don’t even bother with live-lining any baits. But here in the USA, it’s a different story.

Many anglers opt to catch their own baits. From crawfish to any type of fish permitted to use. At Lake Mead, you are allowed to use a four-foot cast net and use any baitfish. Gamefish, like Bluegill, may not be used in Nevada, but there are states that allow it. Lake Mead has a wide variety of baitfish with the ones displayed in the picture being Threadfin Shad. At the right time of year, these waters are filled with millions of these baitfish. Predatory fish love them and fishing companies exist because of them. I am glad I have the opportunity to try live-lining baitfish, but I can’t help to wonder; do Americans know how rare their freshwater baitfish balls are, and are they doing enough to protect them?