The Gizzard Shad is an extremely prolific and common plankton-feeding fish.  It inhabits warm waters across north america. Gizzard Shad are commonly encountered in gigantic, dense schools when they are young, but larger individuals are more solitary.

Once they reach this size, Gizzard Shad are decent gamefish - if you can get them to bite a hook.  Their natural plankton-feeding behavior makes this difficult, but they will occasionally take a small bait or lure.  Scale your tackle down to micro-size and have patience.

No matter what size they are, Gizzard Shad make excellent catfish bait.