Massive schools of baitfish

[DavidPT40]

I just recently saw the biggest school of baitfish I've ever seen, and it was in freshwater. I was out on a local lake (which unfortunately only has about 3 foot of vis), and I could see a school of gizzard shad that stretched from one side of the lake and arced over nearly to the other side. It was probably 100 yards across, but only a few yards thick. They scattered as our boat got closer. Man, I really wish that lake had enough vis to dive in, it would be utterly fascinating to watch the various gamefish attack the shad.

Interestingly enough, I netted a few of the shad with my casting net, and they are the slimiest, fishiest smelling fish I've come across. One website listed gizzard shad as "excessively slimy", almost as bad as the American Eel.

Has anyone here dove near a big school of baitifsh? I imagine the sardine run in Africa would be a delight to see underwater.

 

[Land Locked]

Taylorsville lake? I've seen HUGE schools of bait fish, I wouldn't dive there. We were out fishing once and a warden came by and told us to throw all blue gills on the bank if we were not going to keep them. They wanted to reduced the population.

 

[DavidPT40]

Thats where I was Landlocked. Strangely enough, about 10 years ago, I saw a dive-flag on the lake.

Fishing out there is excellent though. Can't throw a spinnerbait without hooking a hybrid striped bass.

 

[vladimir]

Has anyone here dove near a big school of baitifsh?

Last month in Cocos I was lucky enough to snorkel on the fringe (pretty far from the thick of it) of a huge baitball. We heard dolphins clicking towards the end of a dive and the skiff driver revved the engine to call us to the surface. A quick skiff ride and we were greeted by this:

We slid into the water in snorkeling gear (sorry, no camera) just as the dolphins were leaving, apparently sated. There were at least a hundred Silky sharks in the water, many a little too close for comfort, as well as some Blacktip and Galapagos sharks. Yellowfin tuna were buzzing us at high speed as they emerged from the bait. The divemaster said it would probably go on for hours. By far the best snorkel of my life.