Bait Tip

If you fish with shad during the summer months you know that it's very hard to keep them alive without some fancy aerator rig and here's a little tip for keeping them fresh. Get a styrophoam minnow bucket or ice chest of some sort and ice them down ... doesn't seem to effect the way the fish bite on them like it would if you froze them and they'll stay fresh like this ... just make sure to poke a hole in the bottom so that the water will drain as the ice melts and just keep the shad on top of the ice. If you leave them in water even though it's icewater it'll affect their freshness ... the way you want them if you use them for cut bait is so that when you cut them fresh blood comes outta the cut. They'll keep like this for like 8 to 12 hours. This is handy if you have to catch your shad at another location other than where you'll be fishing like if you have to drive for an hour or so to get to your fishing hole. If you don't do something like this the shad will ruin or not be as effective in just a few hours or even an hour if it's very hot. This also works if you use perch that has died or about to die and you're using them for cut bait.