I went out on Lake Conway the past to evenings.  The bass were jumping and tearing up the shad.  So on advice of some articles I read I netted some shad and put them in a bucket.  This was challenging, but I got er done.  Next I put a shad on an appropriate size hook and threw it into the action.  Just as the articles said the hookup was within seconds.  So I chased the action and caught five 1-lb. bas in 30 minutes last night and me and a partner caught 7 in 30 minutes tonight.  Nothing big, but some exciting action.

Excellent.

Too bad the school of bass tearin up the shad weren't 5 lbers.

but the action is those situatons is intense.  

Had you tried throwing a popper or ratLtrap?

Bass in that situation are reckless and easy to catch.

Thanks Avid,

If I keep at it I hope to find that school of 5lbrs.

I tried a small trap with no luck. The shad were pretty small and the bass seam to be keyed in on them. A 2 inch plastic jerk bait got swallowed fairly often, but I couldn't bury the hook for some reason. Even when I completely exposed the hook and saw my line run off the lure would come right out. I do have a few more ideas on what to try here.

The fun part about the live shad was about three times as often a strike rate. And when the action was off for a few minutes you could soak em just like you would a shiner and pick up a fish or two that way also.

Last year in Dec / Jan the schools of action seemed tighter and more organized. I was having a lot of luck with shad raps then. I am thinking this may be early season and as the bass become more practiced with this forage they will school them up tighter and have longer frenzied sessions. I hope.