I cast-netted a bunch of 2-3 inch shad and tried them on my jugs. Catfish seemed to love them, but they aren't very tough and they come off the hook too easy for my liking. The second night I tried a shad and a piece chicken gizzard on the same hook, next morning all the shads were gone, gizzard still there, no fish.
We use shad , mullet , and cut bait for catfish . The mullet seems to stay in pretty good. Small crabs and gar will eat the shad off your hooks and the mullet has a lil more thickness to it .
The night of the gar rodeo we caught at least 30 catfish between 5 and 10 pounds on mullet . I was trying to clean them as we caught them so we wouldn't have so much to do the next day . But they bit good on the mullet .
It depends on what size it is . If its like a 5 or 6 ft it's fairly easy for someone to figure it out within a couple throws . But if it's a 7 or 8 ft it gets a lil more difficult . I have just a lil 6 ft and one throw last week I had to get help to lift the shad in the boat . It was heavy .
I have a nephew thats about 4 ft tall and throws a 6' cast net as good as anybody .
Ive never dipped them but would imagine it'd be very easy to do . They are definitely there . Are you wanting bait ? When people dip them , don't they catch hundreds of pounds ? They are starting to thin out a bit . If your planning on it you may want to get on out there .