Schooling Threadfin Shad at Mullet Lake Park Dock

I took a short trip to the Mullet Lake Park boat dock. I was bringing my castnet, a loaf of bread, and a couple frozen mullet. At arrival I proceeded to throw small pieces of bread on the water and waited to see if anything was hitting it. Nothing was going after the bread so I just went ahead and tossed the castnet out. When I retrived the net, I had just caught a bunch of threadfin shad. Just about every cast was catching them too, they were really thick. Most were small about 2-3" long, but I did catch two big ones about 6" long.



Threadfin shad, small pelagic plankton feeders, are native to the central and southeastern United States. Like gizzard shad, threadfin sport an elongated dorsal ray. They are a deep bodied, laterally compressed fish. Its mouth is terminal and the upper jaw does not project out, which is typical of gizzards. Their fins generally have a yellowish tint, especially the tail. Coloration is grey to blue along the back and they sport a dark spot on the shoulder. Threadfins form large schools. They generally are shallow water feeders and work the surface at dawn and dusk. A smallish fish, these shad rarely exceed six or seven inches. Like gizzard shad they are sensitive to temperature changes and oxygen levels. Die offs are frequent in late summer and the fall.

When water temperatures reach the upper sixties, typically in May or June, threadfin spawn. They broadcast their eggs over submerged objects in shallow water. The sticky eggs adhere to the structure. Females may lay upwards of 24,000 eggs. Life expectancy seldom exceeds 2 to 3 years.

After catching some threadfin shad, I finially started doing some fishing with the cut mullet. Both lines in the water for about an hour and nothing. Called it a night and went home to freeze the threadfins.