Hey guys, what is the minimum gallon amount that you can get by with and keep shad alive for striper fishing in the summer? I don't have a lot of room in my boat, but if I spend some money would like to have a big enough size. Also, what are your thoughts on commercial bait tank vs making one yourself? thanks for your help

Dad has a 55-gallon plastic barrel he cut in half, fashioned a plastic top and attached it with hinges, and added an aerator pump. He adds salt and occasionally removes the floating scum and cleans the pump filter of scales. Works great for the threadfins and occasional gizzard that is caught. We've used it for years.

Buy a super bait tank II and thank me later. Clem's dad's setup will keep shad alive but my bait tank (super bait tank II) will keep them frisky. I have fished right beside people using their homemade tanks and out fished them 10 to 1. It's one of those things you don't realize till you have it. I also had a homemade tank that I thought was awesome, it didn't hold a candle. Don't buy a piece of crap grayline bait tank either, I bought one of those and used it for about a week before I sent it back, it wouldn't even keep the water clean and I couldn't even tell how much bait I had. The super bait tank is insulated, filtered, and oxygenated. And Clem suggested removing the foam, get yourself some foam-off, if you take your net and scoop up the foam to get it out there is still a film on top of the water that prevents ammonia from escaping. My super bait tank also has a zeolite filter that helps to remove ammonia. As far as size, I wouldn't get less than a 30 gallon but I have a 50 gallon but I carry a lot of bait and I typically use much bigger bait than most people do.

Nick's tank is great. We fished on Wilson last year and could keep bait ALL DAY.

Get a 3 gallon bucket that comes with a mop at Dollar General Store. Only put about 2 gallons of water in it so it doesn't splash out and stuff about 575 dozen shad in it. Use 2 salt packets from Mc Donalds in it and a hand full of sunscreen. If this setup doesn't keep em lively you must be doing it wrong. Kidding aside, go with as big of a round tank as you can get. Something like what Clem mentioned will work ok. I used that setup for years. I would love to pull the trigger on a tank like TFD's though.

One thing that I like to do that hasn't been mentioned is to release them into a bucket of salty water before I put them into the bait tank. Most of them will purge their little colons in that water instead of the tank. After a few minutes, dip them out with a net and into the tank. It will help to keep the water in the tank cleaner and less ammonia present and therefore the shad livelier.

My wife's granddaddy and her uncle built portable tanks for thier boats using the utility tubs like you get at Home Depot. They have a pump system that constantly pumps fresh water into the tank with an overflow tube hanging over the side. This keep any ammonia from bein trapped, and no need for aerating the water because of the constant flow of fresh water. They work really well for less then $100.

Yeah as Metalmuncher mentioned I always purge my shad in a bucket when I catch them in calm water, if you catch them in the current below a dam they have already purged themselves. I don't add salt when I purge them though, they freak out when you catch them and purge themselves without the use of salt, I do however add one cup of rock salt per each 10 gallons of water in my bait tank and 1 oz of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons of water, it boosts the oxygen level of the water. The problem with always pumping fresh water in your tank is in the summer you are pumping 80 to 90 degree water in your shad tank, my water in my shad tank is about 75 degrees which is about the same temp water stripers will be in during the summer, shad don't do well when their temp goes from 90 to 75 in one second and they generally don't do well at 90 deg anyway. Yeah they will be alive but unconscious people have a heartbeat and stripers like frisky energetic bait.

Yeah im sure your tank works much better in summer. They typically use their tanks during early springs and later in the fall. I guess the water has cooled considerably by then. They fish for small mouth and catfish under the dam at wheeler.

Thanks for all your input on the bait tanks. Very informative and helpful. Thanks again.

Any circular type tank will work. The key is to keep the water clean and cool. A good filter is needed to keep it clean. Insulated tanks help keep the water cool. Another trick is to fill empty coke bottles with river or pond water and freeze them. Do not use tap water as it contains chlorine and other chemicals. On hot days, remove the cap from the frozen coke bottle and place it in the tank to help keep the water cool. Adding salt helps the water hold more oxygen. Do not use iodized salt. It will kill them. Make sure you use plain salt.

Bluewater 30 gallon bait tank and frozen 20 oz coke bottles. Can't be beat.

would one of those frabil 5 gallons from wally world work for small amount of shad for say half day of fishing, or maybe 10.00 worth of big shiners? bought 3 dozen

3 dozen is a ton of big shad to keep alive. I have a homemaid 30 gallon drum with a filter system & a bubbler copyed the best I could from the super bait tank II. I tried tfd1224's super water mix and all. If I put 20 shad in there its not long & they done blew there scales off & may be alive but start to feel stiff. All I can say is, I need to buy a superbaittank II.

^^^^yep done been down that road, spent a lot of time and money trying to copy a super bait tank and came close but not close enough. Could've saved a lot of money, time, and headaches by just buying the super bait tank II to begin with. I got mine at a tackle shop in cumming Georgia. When I called the guy that sells super bait tanks online he told me there was like a 3 month wait. The tackle shop in cumming had them in stock.

Oh and my 50 gallon tank holds a bunch of bait, on a typical summer day I have about 120 4 to 6 inch gizzard shad and a dozen or so 8 to 12 inch gizzard shad in my tank and they are all very healthy.

No threadfins?

The fish I like to catch laugh at threadfins in the summer. when it's hot, cold natured fish want to eat the largest meal they can with the least amount of effort. It is not uncommon to catch a 15 pounder on a bait that weighs a pound or more. They just ignore small baits in the summer.

Why have 10 dozen 4-6 inch gizzards then? Threadfins are usually 5-7 inch in the dead heat of summer and seem to Me to be preferred by stripers. They are brighter and flashier and every bit as lively if taken good care of. I get ate about twice as much on threadfin over gizzards.
I guess that on the coosa Gizzards may be easier to find than threadfins.?.? Or am I missing something else?
I now live closer to the Coosa than the Tennessee so I'm gonna have to learn to fish it.

gizzard shad live longer and are livlier on the line and yes gizzard shad are usually easier to find, most of the threadfins i catch on the coosa are smallish.

I don't fish with live bait, but I do try and imitate large gizzard shad with my lures. Big smallmouth and LM prefer big gizzard shad IMO.