Nothing is more important to the majority of game fish in Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair than a good shad spawn. A good shad spawn will provide food for game fish right on into and through the fall and winter season. A bad shad spawn caused by something like fluctuating water levels can have a significant negative impact on the lake’s game fish.

Game fish like largemouth bass, crappie, striped/hybrid bass and some catfish depend on baitfish for the majority of their food. Baitfish in area lakes are comprised primarily of minnows, bluegill, and shad with shad making up a majority of the game fish diet.

The most important baitfish in both Lakes Oconee and Sinclair are shad and there are two distinctly different species of shad in the lakes. The two types are threadfin shad and gizzard shad.

Threadfin shad are abundant in both Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair. The only time they move to the shoreline is when they are spawning. As soon as the young shad fry hatch, the fry move away from the shoreline and do not attempt to hide in shoreline cover like fry of other species. Threadfin shad feed primarily on plankton but occasionally they will eat the larvae of other fish.

Even though the threadfin shad can grow to 6-9 inches in some waters, they usually measure up to 2-4 inches in area lakes. Due to their small size, the threadfin shad is the perfect size meal for crappie, largemouth bass, catfish and striped/hybrid bass. The threadfin shad provides upwards of 80% or more of the game fish diet in area lakes.

The second type of shad in area lakes is the gizzard shad. The gizzard shad grows to a much larger size than the threadfin shad and when it reaches six inches, it no longer is a good food source except for the largest game fish in the lake. They are generally found to range in size from 4-15 inches and can weigh up to 2 pounds.

The gizzard shad feeds on plankton when they are small but later they will feed on algae and disintegrated matter on the lake bottom. The threadfin shad and gizzard shad look somewhat similar when small but the easiest way to tell these two shad apart is the yellowtails of the threadfin and the distinguishing purple spot near the gill plate on both sides of the threadfin.

The threadfin shad spends the majority of its life in or near deep water except during the spawn. The threadfin shad move to shallow water in huge numbers in spring to spawn when the water temperature is in the 65-75 range. They move along shorelines in large schools to lay there eggs on rocks, grass, brush, logs, seawalls and boat docks.

During the threadfin’s spring spawn in April and May, anglers can have excellent success when gamefish such as largemouth bass, striped bass, hybrid bass, and even catfish move to the shoreline to feed on the spawning shad. The feeding can be voracious at times and an angler casting a well-placed lure like a buzzbait, fluke or crankbait will often be rewarded with a strike.

Many anglers completely miss the spring shad spawn because you have to be on the water at or even before daylight. The shad will move to the shoreline during the night and may actually begin to spawn before the very first rays of sunlight hit the water. Normally the shad spawn will only last 15-45 minutes unless the morning is overcast and then it could last an hour or more.

You can hear the shad spawning from some distance as thousands of shad slap their bodies along the shoreline depositing their eggs. Often they will come completely out of the water as they deposit their eggs and often the gamefish will almost become grounded as they move into extremely shallow water to gourge themselves on shad.

It is hard to predict exactly where or when on the lake the shad will spawn on any given day but usually it is not difficult to find them when they are actively spawning. Good locations to look for spawning shad are main lake points, seawalls, coves and along riprap.

The spawn might last only over a 2-3 week period and then the shad congregate in large schools for safety reasons and can be found during the late spring and summer on points, ledges, humps and in open water areas.

The water temperature is approaching that needed for the shad spawn to begin and boy that can be an exciting time to be on the water. Believe me; you do not want to miss the shad spawn. Good fishing and see you next week.