Late report. I got stuck at work yesterday until almost 4:30 pm, so I bailed on going to the Wall, and arrived at the Bissell by 4:45. Four regulars were working the bank, and as I set up, was told "you missed a good run a little while ago." Perfect. Timing is everything, and what I ain't got. At least the water was nice and clear, down less than 1' from Wednesday, and the current was good; 3/4 oz was weight enough. It was breezy, but not as hard or cold as yesterday. And ten minutes after I started my casting practice, one of the regulars got into it for a brief tussle with a small buck, which was promptly released. A little while later, another shadaholic C&R a very small roe. By 5:30, I hooked my first shad a small buck that hit fairly close to the bank. It was a short tussle, and he was released after a Kodak Moment™. I used a hammered silver, in white w/4 red dots to catch him.

It seemed that the shad, while small, were being caught, and mostly released at intervals of 15-20 minutes. At 5 mins to 6:pm. I got hit way out in the river, but with a few rapid headshakes and no real "back" to it, I thought it was an alewife at first. It got a little "heavier", and more "back" as it got closer to shore, perhaps a white perch. It was a small schoolie, maybe 11" or 12", but nice and thick. Its last meal was hanging out of its face with the willow leaf (the same hammered silver, white w/4 red dots). We had a Kodak Moment™, and back it went to grow up. Less than 10 mins later, I had another shad on the hook, buck buck #2. It also hit fairly close to the bank, but it had more fight in it than the first shad. Once we got it in the net, it was obvious it had been spawning or escaped the netters, as its sides were bruised, and some scales were missing. It gave me a Kodak Moment™, and back he went; he fell to a "Ukrainian Leaf" (blue over yellow w/black dot). By this point, the meeting of shadaholics had grown to half a dozen on the bank, and a few more sitting around the picnic table jawing. And the others around me continued to catch shad at intervals. No double hooksets, but often enough to keep us anchored to the bank. At 6:20, I hooked my 3rd shad for the day, Slava Ukraini! She hit hard far from the bank, put her head down, and stripped line right away. She tried 3 or 4 runs down river, but I was able to turn her before I got to my backing. It looked doubtful for a bit, until she turned to run upstream, and I was able to recover a lot of the line she took from the beginning. Eventually, after 3 or 4 minutes that seemed longer, we got her in the net. She looked to be about 3.5#, with good, vibrant color. After our Kodak Moment™, she took right off for deeper water. 20 mins later, one of the younger shadaholics got hit by a freight train, it just stopped him and stripped line on a long run to much complaint from his drag. Eventually he landed what turned out to be the largest roe of the day, 4.02#. He rued that he had caught it today, and not tomorrow morning for the Derby, but ultimately it was released unharmed after a Kodak Moment™. She also fell to the Ukrainian leaf.

By this time it was almost 7:pm, and while the shad were still cooperating, we were tired and hungry. So glad I missed that good run earlier, LOL! And most of the guys, and the one lady, were going out early today for the Shad Derby. Good timing for it this year, the shad are in, and it should be interesting. I am not in the Derby, I'm heading to TN to visit my son and DIL for the weekend. If you are fishing the Derby, good luck and tight lines!