An American shad may swim over 12,000 miles during its lifetime. American shad prefer to … Fall angling can be excellent on both lakes with the fall season being a delightful time to be on the water. The shad spawn although it’s a short period of time, can mean the best bass fishing of the spring if you hit the right spots at the right times. Males arrive at the spawning sites first followed by the females. Fresh from the Atlantic and charging upstream against the swollen currents of spring, shad—like salmon—are on a mission to spawn. By late fall, most juvenile shad migrate to near-shore coastal wintering areas. On the other hand, a light breeze helps break up the surface and that’s always a good thing for those seeking to fool feeding fish. Sidenote: can’t speak on personal experience, yet, but I have a buddy who swears by using a finesse mojo rig with a GYCB 3” Senko. Areas with high water velocity and dissolved oxygen levels are prime spawning locations. Female and male gizzard shad swim … In the Southeast TN, GA and AL this usually means the full moon in April and May. WHEN DO GIZZARD SHAD SPAWN Spawning takes place in late spring or early summer. They especially like rocks, wood, and metal surfaces, but will spawn on clay and aquatic plants, too, with the best spots being near deep water. In my case, the Candy Bug with the tip dipped in Spike It Dip-n-Glow gets destroyed from the the start of the shad spawn thru early fall. The gizzard shad has been widely used as a food source for game fish, with varied success in management and effectiveness. They may be full!!. And now the shad spawn is back as well and that only makes things better." Shad spawn when the water temperatures hit upper sixties to low seventies and during the full moon. Immature American shad will remain in the ocean for three to six years before returning to spawn. The shad spawn is a prime opportunity for them to do that.” Consider that stiff winds might render an otherwise attractive area too rough for the shad. I have trouble believing in a fall transition time that emulates the spring transition where the fish move from the spawning flats back into deeper water. Life history. American shad spawn in tidal and non-tidal freshwater zones. Some juvenile American shad will remain in rivers and estuaries up to a year before entering the ocean. Shad spawn in very shallow water on hard surfaces. Shad live in coastal ocean waters most of the time, but every year they migrate back to the rivers where they hatched to spawn. I do not have enough space this week to deal with catching other lake species in this article but rest assured that the catfish, hybrid bass, white bass and striped bass will be around schools of shad feeding during the fall. Northern populations are iteroparous, thus they may survive breeding, return to the sea, and then return to fresh waters to spawn several more times.However, southern populations exhibit semelparity, similar to Pacific salmon.In the marine environment, shad are schooling fish. For some (though not me, thanks), the payout is slow-baked shad, or shad roe sacks pan-fried in butter, both of which are considered delicacies. I have fished creeks with thousands of shad covering the surface and you could not get a single bass bite. Spawning generally occurs overnight beginning at dusk. Prough agreed. Where Shad Spawn . Shad prefer depths of less then 4 meters with silt, gravel, or sandy bottoms. Shad spawn right at daybreak, so when the sun gets on the water, shad spawning activity is usually over for the day. The shad spends most of its life in the Atlantic Ocean, but swims up freshwater rivers to spawn. For most, it’s just about the fight. 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