I've been fishing Truman Lake the past couple of weeks here in Missouri. The shad are moving back in the creeks and some big schools are still on the main lake. I've got some questions and would be interested in people's experience/knowledge on shad movements in the fall.

1. With the cooler nights - do the shad drop back into deeper water in the creek or do they move back towards the main lake (and then slowly migrate towards the back as it warms the following day)? I've been down to Truman several times in the past week in the afternoon and the shad were everywhere. I fished a tournament Saturday and I didn't find hardly any in the shallows until later in the afternoon (Though my partner wanted to fish an area about 35 miles from where I had been prefishing - so it's hard to compare).

2. Does dropping water affect the shad a great deal. Truman dropped about 1/2 a foot overnight before the tournament?

3. Truman has a lot of coves (especially in the Grand Arm) that has a steeper channel bank on one side and a lot of flatter, grassy secondary points on the other side. Would you start on the deeper side early in the morning (assuming there aren't any baitfish on the shallow flats)?

4. What about size of the shad? The shad I've been seeing are pretty small - 1 1/2" or less. Are you looking for bigger shad?

5. How would you fish this creek starting early in the morning? It's a creek on the Grand Arm between Bucksaw and Long Shoal Marinas. It's about a mile long. One side is pretty steep and rocky with scattered pole timber. About 15 feet from the bank you are setting in 15 feet of water. Pretty straight except for one bend. The other side is much flatter, has a lot of rounded secondary points and pole timber. There are a lot of bushes just barely in the water and very few visible laydowns. Water temp is in the mid to upper 70's. Lake is 3' high, water has about 2' of visibility. There have been lots of shad on the flats in the afternoons and some keeper fish scattered around it - but nothing very big. A slight wind has been blowing onto the flat in prefishing but hasn't started yet.

Any other thoughts/things I should be thinking about or considering?

Thanks

Temps and food are what drives the shad to the backs of creeks in the fall.

Understanding shad might help.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1134661967/

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1134662267/

Your shad are more than likely Threadfin that are 3" to 5" long this time of year.

As Matt posted in the above links, Threafin are phytoplankton eaters. Threadfin hide in weeds, brush, under docks or whatever during the night and move out into open water when the sun lifts the phytoplankton towards the surface. The nutrients in the water attract the plankton, wind and current moves the plankton mass.

Early low light hours you are better off targeting hiding areas like weed beds, docks, trees and brush. When the sun is bright and the plankton rises, the shad move out and the bass feed on them.

Threadfin's low water temperature is about 45 degrees any lower they die off. Look for warmer water with high nutrient levels (slightly off color water) and diving birds like grebes and the shad should be in the area.

WRB