8.April, 4:15ish: It was partly sunny and warm when I pulled up behind Bart's after work. Dylan, his mother, Radio and a couple of other characters had their arms in a cast, or were beating their gums up on the sidewalk. The water was down a little more from yesterday, clear, with a very good current, and surface temp. about 46ºF.

We all fell into a pattern of casting practice until about 5:pm, when Dylan had a solid hookset. After a few minutes, a few runs, and a little bit of acrobatics, he had a decent buck in the net. The first shad that we know of being landed. A couple or three had been hooked and lost over the last few weeks, but Dylan snapped a picture for proof of the pudding in the pan. He posted it to American Shad on FB, winning 25 of Steve's Leaves for his trouble. Congrats, Dylan. Radio hooked into his first shad of the season, for 2 bucks in 5 minutes. And then it got quiet, again.

By 6:30, my stomach was complaining for our supper, and I headed out for home. It was a great day to be on the bank. With the warming temps this week, we're hoping the shad run and action picks up--at least, I am. Tight lines!

Terminal Tackle: 3/4 oz drail over a 3', 10# flouro leader, and hammered silver willow leaf in white, with red dots, aka "spotty".