My BG and even my GSH have become very difficult to catch. This makes catching my LMB difficult because they have gotten dubious of lures for the most part. They really don't even seem to hit live BG nearly as well as live GSH. So I took a trip to the bait store and the only options other than tiny shiners were gizzard shad and blueback herring. I didn't want gizzard shad in the pond. The herring work very well in Clarks Hill for striper and catfish so I bought a few dozen.
I've used them in the lake so it was no surprise these things are fragile. These little things need high DO.
Aeration is mandatory for your baitwell. The scales on these things get everywhere too. Over half of these things died within a few minutes of being thrown out so a lot we fished as cut bait. The LMB liked them though. I caught 5 in a few hours. This is very good for my pond. The shocking thing is I caught 2 of my pet catfish that are all but impossible to catch at this point.
I had 20 left so I just put them in the pond after mixing some pond water in the bait tank. All of them swam off. I saw a couple of them swimming at the top which is what I figured they would all do (oxygen.) Within a few mins they were history. I imagine they are all gone now but it was interesting anyway. And I found some good bait.

Last edited by crimsondave; 09/29/20 07:31 AM.