Claim to fame: Although the gizzard shad’s tasteless flesh has no “skillet appeal” for anglers and the fish are seldom caught, this fish plays an important role in Missouri fishing.

Match up Shad are maybe the best known bass forage, with myriad lures imitating them. The two most popular species are gizzard shad and threadfin shad. While they are very similar, there are a few ...

The rub is that there’s also an unusually large number of gizzard shad, their favorite food, all around. “Your lure is just one of tens of thousands of baitfish in front of them,” he said.

It was similar to the rate seen in 2020. Another key food source, gizzard shad, had a weak hatch in 2021. The DNR says those fish have not had a strong hatch since 2016. Both gizzard shad and lake ...

Thousands and thousands of gizzard shad are dead and anglers in the area are wondering why. Fish experts say this kill is just part of winter. Just downstream from Lock No. 5, fish are frozen in time.

The fish kind. A fish with a gizzard, more appropriately named gizzard shad. They, and their cousin, the treadfin, make wonderful striper bait, as was recently proven by two anglers fishing the ...

A gizzard shad is a silver fish in the herring family that skips along in schools. The fish are often pretty large. Gizzard shads are found in most stream and river systems in Missouri.