Jeff wrote:

I use small shad often Catfishing and had never caught one other than Cast
Netting until last week. I was fishing in the Tennessee River for crappie
using minnows and jig when I noticed as I was bringing my line in, bright
shiny larger fish that werent crappie were chasing it to the top, flipping
up and diving. I slowed down bringing my line in and started catching Shad,
average about 10 inches long. I asked someone if they ate Shad and they said
Shad was a junk fish, good for nothing but bait. But I recalled that General
Pickett and F.H. Lee were at a Shad Bake when their units were attacked at
Five Forks. I googled it and found out that Shad Bakes are and have been a
big deal in the southeast US for hundreds of years. So, has anyone HERE ever
eaten a Shad? What is your opinion of it?


Go ahead eat one. It will be and "experience."
The gizzard shad of the Tennesse River are not capable of being made
palatable.
They are no way like the shad that they catch in the Seaboard rivers
that return from the sea.