Shale gas reservoirs in the northwestern Hunan are dense, with low porosity and low permeability, and it is necessary to fracture the reservoir. The proppant-carrying capacity of the fracture fluid is the key to successful fracturing. In view of the characteristics of shale gas reservoirs in northwestern Hunan, the rheological properties and viscoelastic sand-carrying experiments were conducted to optimize the concentration of SDBS used as the main sand-carrying medium. The results show that the proppant-carrying fluid belongs to pseudo plastic fluids. When the concentration of SDBS is 0.03%, it provides the smallest fluidity index, the largest consistency coefficient, and the largest ratio of the structural viscosity/the flow resistance, and is ideal for the shale reservoir fracturing in the northwestern Hunan. The viscoelastic sand carrying capacity of the proppant-carrying liquid is related to its structural viscosity, and the structural viscosity (ηs) and precipitation rate (v) satisfy v=-0.016ηs +2.304.