No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I fished behind Bart's from about 5-7:30 pm. There was a decent group of about 9 fishing when I got there, with reports of shad caught. For every body that called it a night, another body showed up to replace them, so the crowd persisted. The water was down about a foot from yesterday, clear, and flowing with a surface temp about 53º F.
A little before 6 pm I C&R a middlin' buck, shortly thereafter, a nice 3+# roe was landed, and a while later another middlin' buck was C&R. A few more shad were subject to a short-lived fight before performing a long distance "self" release. And, more than a few alewives provided added value entertainment, too.
The fishing should continue to be good through Friday, and into Saturday. We'll see how much rain we get Saturday into Sunday AM. If it's anything like last Saturday, it will keep the water temps from warming too much, and recharging the river level, and current. Will it be good for the shad run next week? It could, but the accuracy of the forecast is always a crap shoot, so I'll reserve judgement. YMMV, and invariably will...
Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz drail over 2-1/2' flouro leader, and a red/white hammered silver w/black dot willow leaf.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
Hey Now, Sweetchuck! I did ok down there earlier today, my report follows. Good luck tonight, and tight lines! Please post a follow up trip report.
I fished in the usual spot near Bart's on the Farm'y from about 4:30-6:45 pm. When I arrived there were only 2 other folx fishing the bank. By the time I left, there were 7 of us, and a few others had come and gone. The water was down about 18" from yesterday, clear, and flowing well. Surface temp was down to 52º F.
I saw a little cotton drifting on the water, and in the breeze, requiring an eye on the line, and guides to keep the stray clump from getting into the spool. It looks like it's coming in a little early this year. After the rain, and the air temp spikes up this weekend, the cotton should just pop, and clog up the works by next week.
I saw 4 shad C&R before the 6:oo run kicked in but didn't get my 1st until just before 6. It was a nice 3# buck, he put on a little show with a few strong runs, and a couple of acrobatics for good measure. About 6:30 I C&R a middlin' 2# buck after a brief but spirited tussle. The action cooled off after 6:30, and the skeeters were a real PIA by then, so I beat feet to clear out of there.
Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz drail over 2' to 2-1/2' 8# flouro leader, my trusty red reflective taped/orange painted hammered silver w/black dot was my productive leaf (again--surprise, surprise). I threw a couple of other colors in silver, gold, and copper, but for naught.
Tomorrow should be another good day, and probably Saturday morning for a few hours into the rain. We'll see how much we get, and play it by ear next week. Good luck, and tight lines!
Sweetchuck
Member
Registered: 01/04/07
Posts: 2311
Loc: Stafford Springs, CT
Caught 8 herring and donated about a pint of blood to the skeeters. Will have my thermal cell with me next time. Watched a eagle sit in a tree for a long time then it's friend also came by to say hi.
Water temp was 54. Got my flashers in the mail yesterday will try back next week.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
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!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
After work I headed over to Bart's to work the rock pile above the RR bridge. I arrived about 4:30 pm to find only 2 folx fishing the bank but one of them had a stringer with a couple of shad on it. The water was up a couple of feet from last week, clear, moving well, and with a surface temp ~53º F. The wind was gusting out of the west, coming straight down the river, at least it wasn't a continuous blow...
By 6 pm 2 more folx had joined us, and I had a couple of hits. They only stayed on long enough for a few head-shakes, and a couple of cranks before they parted ways. Stringer man added a couple of more shad to his creel in the same period, but after 6, it got busy. By 6:15, I had landed 2 thick bucks, back-to-back, and the fellas on either side of me landed a shad each as I released my #2. Stringer man also landed another shad; he should play the lottery...
By the time I left a little after 7:30 pm, I had landed 2 more bucks, the last one another nice fat one just as an ENCON Officer came around to check licenses. I had a pleasant chat with Officer Heath (if I recall his name correctly). I'm glad to see the ENCON Officers come around, and appreciate their work, a tip of my CTF hat to them.
Terminal tackle: 5/8 oz drail over a 3' leader (that had winnowed down to about 18" by the time I left), and a couple of different willow leaves, but the winning willow caught all the action tonight, and it was orange/yellow on hammered silver w/black dot.
This week should be prime time for shad, see you on the bank, and tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I stopped by Bart's about 4:30 pm after work today. There were 7 or 8 folx working the bank. The water was about the same level as Tuesday, clear, and flowing pretty well. The surface temp was about 64º F today! I only spent an hour plying the bank behind Bart's, and caught all of 2 alewives to keep the skunk off. No shad to be seen, but plenty of alewives, and they were flipping out of the water everywhere. At 5:30 I headed over to E. Barber St, and the Bissell Bridge boat launch.
At Bissell, there were 4 or 5 folx fishing. The water was up on the ramp, and there wasn't much bank to the right to fish but we made do. The water was clear and flowing well, surface temp about 62º F. There were, at least rumors of shad but none on the bank when I arrived. By 6:30, somebody had landed a nice buck shad, but that was all I saw. Until I was packing up to head home for supper at 7:pm, when another shad was caught. Too little, too late, and I was hungry so I left. Maybe the action came in later than I was willing to stay. :shrug:
Terminal tackle: 5/8 oz drail over 3' flouro leader, and a variety colors of hammered silver or gold willows.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
After work today, I stopped by the Bissell boat launch about 4:30 pm. There were a half dozen regulars plying the water but no shad to be seen. The water was down below the second cleat, and flowing well. But, there was plenty of "cotton" on the water, and it was sticking to everything: line, guides, reels, it was a mess. I didn't hang around, I went straight to Bart's.
On the rocks above the RR bridge, the water was as low as I've seen it this year. The bridge's footings were still under water, which was a good sign. The water was flowing pretty well, and while there was some cotton on the water, it wasn't as thick or sticky as that at Bissell; surface temp was 64-65º F. There were four anglers casting about, but only two were fishing for shad, and no shad were on the bank. Just before 6 pm a shad was C & R, up to then, I only had a couple of alewives, and a dinky little bronze back. A little after 6 pm, another regular had arrived, by 6:30 he had a couple of hard hits that didn't stick, and I C & R a middlin' buck shad after a brief, one sided tussle. Other than another alewife, that was all she wrote, and I left a little after 7 pm.
Terminal tackle: I started with a 5/8 oz drail, and 3' leader, but switched over to a 3/8 oz drail, and a 2' flouro leader. I threw several willows, but both shad caught tonight liked hammered sliver in green/chartreuse w/black dot over anything else.
Tight lines!
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