Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Threadfin Shad

Threadfin shad are a great forage fish in the south.
The problem over the years has been availability. Not many fish farms have been willing to raise them. Those fish farms north of an east-west line going through Waco, Texas, run a high risk of winter mortality.
Those few people who raise them work all winter to keep them alive and some farms try to only keep enough of them alive to provide their own broodstock and then sell babies in mid-summer.
They are, by far, the toughest fish of all to handle. When seining, you can't pick them up with a dip net. You must "swim" them into a tub, carry the tub up the bank, and gently release into the haul truck, then bring them to the vats, release and salt heavily. Let them "harden" for at least a day, dip off the dead fish and you might be able to sell some to walk up customers, because then you can dip and put into a bag.
Better yet, most people who sell them load straight out of a pond, drive and stock your pond.
So, if fish farmers can make it through a winter and handle the fish without too many death loss, they have a profitable creature.
Several of the people who sell them now will harvest from a public lake and either stockpile or deliver straightaway. They watch for the silvery creatures to start their spawn and then catch them when they are near the shore.
For pondmeisters, there are other worries. Since threadfins are mostly filter feeders, it's best to have your pond or lake fertile when the fish arrive. If your water is clear, two things happen and both are "bad." There isn't a proper food chain and bass can easily see your new additions...and eat them like candy.
I have seen lakes stocked with threadfins at 5,000 per acre and never establish a population while I also have seen lakes stocked at 5 per acre have the largest population of shad you can imagine.
Threadfins only grow to 7 inches long and have a normal lifespan of probably three years, tops. Because of that, they reproduce heavily and often, when the temperatures are right.
So, here's the chain of events for threadfin.
1) Availability from producers is limited.
2) Handling is tough.
3) They die when water temps push into the low 40's
4) Clear water in your pond, survival rates are low.
5) Cost is driven up because we now pay $4.50 a gallon for diesel.

If you can overcome all that....threadfins are a great idea. Here's why.
We all know that bluegill are the backbone of the food chain. They always have been and will continue to be the item of choice to raise largemouth bass. Threadfin shad are a great second choice in waters where they can live with the lowest risk of dying each winter. They are so prolific that they actually increase the odds of bluegill survival, thus "creating" a new food chain.
Threadfins move out into open water and bass will follow them for the chase. I have seen some fabulous topwater action in July from bass chasing shad in the middle of a lake. For each day a bass is suspended in the middle of a lake, the shoreline forage fish have another day to live and grow. When a lake has spawning threadfins, the statistical odds of bluegill survival increases. The main significance of that factor is that if a bluegill is eaten at 1" of length, that fish weighs less than one pound per thousand. But, if that same bluegill lives an additional four weeks and can grow to 2.5", it weighs at least 15-20 pounds per thousand. If it can make it to 45 days, it weighs 30-35 pounds per thousand and is a more significant forage fish for the size class of bass that needs it the most...those fish in the 15-18" sizes.
If pondmeisters are able to figure out what needs to be done to set the stage for threadfins and then find a supplier who can provide good, healthy fish and you don't mind paying the freight, threadfins are a great idea.
They are still cheaper than a bass boat.