I went out and got me a cast net. MY question is what do you guys look for when you go out to catch bait fish like shad or minnows. I have seen the schools on the river but not in a lake. Also any tips on casting will be helpful. Thanks

most of the time you can see their tails flipping on top the water

look around the lighted piers at night but you need to be careful. some have brush piles under them. if you see brush in the water .....run from it. really any light at night will have some bait due to the plankton it draws  and the shad are eating the plankton. throwing instruction well buy the ten dollar tape and watch it. really its well worth it. i bought a infisherman catfish tape on the james river and the fellow on there showed how to catch big fish and throw a cast net. i throw mine like him to this day. also i use my electronics to locate bait a lot of times also. i catch most of mine before daylight or at night. under dark skies is the main key most of the time unless you got a great place loaded with bait. a flicker on the top as suggested by the other post is a good sign also.

check this out its a great video on throwing one.  Better than the instructions i got with the net.  
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/lOUkj2h2LjI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/lOUkj2h2LjI</a>

not bad ....if i get the chance ill put another one on there another way to throw it.....