There are a lot of exciting times in the growth of a bass angler. But none more exciting than your first introduction into the actual sport of bass fishing. I can still remember the moment so vividly as my parents had hired a fishing guide and taking my younger brother and I to Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara California. Our fishing guide slowly pulled the 14 foot aluminum Valco boat up against the log boom at the far east end of Lake Cachuma. The guide reached into a bucket and pulled out a lime green fresh threadfin shad from the tank. He pinned the threadfin shad onto my hook and I slowly dropped it in the water. Here I am nine years old and I'm so excited because this is my first ever bass fishing experience. I only had to wait short period of time before my rod loaded up and I caught my first ever largemouth bass. My brother was so excited I was so excited the fishing guide looked at me and asked me for what do you think of that. And I just looked at the bass as I was panting I could barely breathe I was so excited. I looked at him and said my goodness I have to set down. I remember that like it was yesterday. That was my introduction into the sport of bass fishing. That's what started the entire thing for me and of course I went on to fish professionally now for almost 40 years. Utilizing live shad for bait at Castaic Lake can accomplish many things for many different people. There are so many bass anglers out there that just don't have the time to go fishing as much as they like to. They have very limited time to go fishing and he would like to be able to have some success when they go out. Others are much like me when I was young. These are young anglers who are trying to catch their very first largemouth bass. That experience of being able to use a live shad and generate a strike in quick fashion can get someone interested in the sport of bass fishing that otherwise might not want to participate in our sport. It's not something that is available for bass anglers to use every day of the year. It's a very seasonal product that produces incredible results and can be fantastic in so many ways for the sport of bass fishing. It's a wonderful way to take somebody out whether they be friends, family, neighbors, children, nieces, nephews all of the above can experience a really nice day on the water when utilizing threadfin shad for bait. It has also been a great educator for me showing me so many things about the habits of what bass really do. As an example, I've been absolutely amazed as to just how many bass are physically suspended throughout the fishing day. I've taken the live shad and pulled up onto a structure spot in 40 to 50 feet of water. My bass fishing guide clients will toss their live shad into the water with absolutely no weight. The bait hits the water and in no more than three or four seconds and their bit. Its absolutely amazing how many bass sit on a structure spot and are nowhere close to the bottom. One of the other things I noticed is the color of the shad. When you net live threadfin shad for bait you'll notice the baits that have the beautiful limegreen back are the most fertile and most powerful baits.The baits that have a dark or black back on them are the weakest and die off the quickest in the bait tank. This gave me a good explanation of why chartreuse on a topwater bait is so effective. It really explain to me why the chartreuse and white spinner bait has been so effective for so many years. That limegreen or chartreuse color in the shad is something that really triggers the bass into striking. That limegreen color or chartreuse is a signal that it's a lively fresh bait. One of the other very alarming things is how you will pull up on a spot and throw live shad in the water and set there for quite some time but once you generate a strike things seem to progress in quick fashion. What I mean by this is once you hook your first bass it seems to motivate the entire school of bass. Is it that the fighting bass seems to release some type of pheromone? Like I said I'm not sure the answers to all of these questions but without a doubt they need to be studied. Let's get into the basics of fishing life shad for bass. Without question the best live bait is threadfin shad and that is the most prevalent baitfish that we have here in the Western states. There are also silverside minnows and Glass minnows that produce limited results but without question for western anglers threadfin shad is absolutely the best live bait you can use. As we all know like shad cannot be purchased via the Internet or overnight shipped to your home. You have to physically "make" the bait. If you're fishing in California it's against the law to use a "throw net". So therefore in the state of California must use a scoop net. If you're interested in purchasing a shad net your best bet would be Erics Tackle in Ventura California or of course you can email me at www.richtauberfishing.com. There are two distinct ways to physically net the live shad to use for bait. One would be utilizing your boat to net the live shad. The second option is to net the live shad from a stationary position whether it be on the shoreline or standing on the platform or dock. Let's start with netting from a stationary position. The biggest key is to put the net in the water and not to move it at all. I'm talking about not moving it even a 16th of an inch. If you're standing on the shore or standing on a dock and you see the shad in the water slowly lower the hoop portion of the net into the water at a depth where you can still clearly see the net with your polarized eyewear. As you see the shad swim into your net don't move it at all! Try to stay as still as possible. You have to let the shad physically swim into your net. The same applies when you're netting from the bank. Extend the net out to the area where you see the shad moving down the shoreline. Hold The net still. Don't move it at all. You physically have to let the shad swim into the net on their own. Once you see the shad swim into your net whether you're on the shore or on a dock lift the net straight back toward you. Do not try to swoop or scoop with the net. These nets are very long and heavy. Once you see the shad hit the net lift directly back at you and you're in business. Take the live shad and instantly put them into an areated 5 gallon bucket or if you have a bass boat parked on the dock go ahead and put your shad into the livewell of your boat. Speaking of live wells it's very important that you use a plastic screen to cover the drain hole of your life well. You can purchase these plastic screens from Anglers Marine in Anaheim California. As most of you know I run the largest bass fishing guide service here in the western United States. We fish with live shad with our bass fishing clients over 100 gave each year. Of course I also use my boat to compete in the US Open so therefore having perfect live wells that work properly and that are clean are crucial. These plastic screens will keep your livewell absolutely perfect and clean. Insert the plastic live will screen into the drain hole and this will keep any small shad from clogging the plumbing in your expensive bass boat. Once you put the live shad into the tank turn your life well to the automatic setting. You want to bring water from the lake into your livewell on the automatic setting. Do not use the recirculating pump make sure that you use your live well pump that brings water from the lake into the tank and naturally drains through the overflow hole. Once you put the shad into your livewell never close the livewell lid. The shad absolutely love sun. Any of you that have ever fished on a sport fishing vessel in the ocean know that the sportfishing boats all have the anchovies and anchovies out in the open sunlight in small tanks so you can reach in and gather your bait. Live shad are absolutely the same way. They love sunlight and if you close the lid to your live well the shad will run into the walls frantically and kill themselves for the most part. I use a bungee cord to hold the live well lid open and connected it to the post on the rear seat. This way my guide fishing clients can kick the live well lid accidentally and not damage the hinge to the door on the live well. Don't overcrowd the live wells. I recommend no more than 50 baits in your life well at a time. If you have two live wells which most bass boats do you can utilize both tanks and have 100 live pieces of bait utilizing 50 baits in each tank. If you're going to move on to the process of netting live shad utilizing your boat to corralling and harvest the shad this is a bit more tricky. First of all this is not for the faint of heart. This is a lot of work and pretty rough on your trolling motor as your constantly moving the boat in very shallow water. What I mean by this is I use my trolling motor like a weapon to push the shad into shallow pockets and bays where I have them virtually cornered and reach out with my net and they have very few options as to where to go. This is far and away the most effective way to make bait. But please remember that this is tough on your equipment. This is what I do for a living so therefore I look at my trolling motor as a physical tool that I go to work with every day. If you're not interested in your boat scuffing the bottom or you're trolling motor physically hitting the bottom getting scratched then I would recommend that you do not use your boat for netting and harvesting live bait. The safest way to net bait and not damage your boat in any fashion is to net your bait from the shoreline or standing on a dock or platform. In the next article we will discuss how we locate bait on a strange lake or body of water. How we utilize wildlife and birds to spot where the shad are. And of course exactly all the rods reels and equipment that you will need for a successful day of live bait fishing. Once again in the meantime if any of you are interested in going out with me personally and learning the finer points of fishing live bait for bass you can contact me on my personal cell phone at 818-439-1154. You can also text me on that same number or you can go to www.RichTauberFishing.com.