Brown - I've fished pits near Chelsea, Talala and further west out by Skedee - I will back you up that sometimes the fishing is just plain tough and other times its great. There are some pits that we could never seem to catch larger bass in them but always felt they were around. Some of those pits I fished had fair populations of shad but the water was not flowing like yours seem to be - I would say go for it again on the shad. If you ever need a fishing partner let me know!