Sweetchuck, thanks for the report. Skeeters are bad this week, for sure. Dope with Woodsman's Off, or your favorite skeeter concoction, and get some shad next trip. They're out there!

Hey Now, OldSchool! In short, yes I'm throwing the drail-willow set up. As I'm a shore-bound angler, I cast, let it settle until it bumps the bottom, then retrieve fairly slowly. I try to keep everything close to or even bumping the bottom as I retrieve. IMHE, my success rate for hooking shad is higher lower in the water column, Vs. catching alewives, and other species that loiter higher in the water column. YMMV, and invariably will...

Late report:
Yesterday I stopped by the usual spot behind Bart's after work, arriving about 4:30 pm. The water was down another 1' or so, clear, flowing well, and the surface temp was 54º F, up a hair over Thursday's temp. There were 4 other folx plying their trade, and no shad on the bank. Radio reported getting a few shad earlier in the day, as did another fella. By 4:45, Radio and another fella hooked up one after the other. As they played their shad, I also hooked up. Yowie Zippy, three of us wrastlin' shad at the same time! Game on!

After a half dozen good, long, hard runs, and a couple of tail flipping, head shaking, clear out of the water aerial stunts, I netted a really decent, fat buck shad. It put up one of the better fights I've had in a while, and Radio swore it was a roe until I expressed milt. As I held the shad in a net trying to unhook him, my phone rang. SWMBO needed me for some urgent issue on the homefront. So, that turned out to be my vitamin shad, C&R after a Kodak moment, and the end of the trip. It was just past 5:pm.

Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz drail, over 2-1/2' flouro leader, and my go-to red reflective taped/orange painted hammered silver w/black dot. That leaf is looking ragged, the hook is all bent and twisted but it catches shad!

Wifey is fine BTW, but it was a long night...

I'm taking the weekend off to contribute to the Domestic Tranquility--unless SWMBO throws me out. Tight lines!