No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
It's been a slow start to the season this year. I've been out four times in the last three weeks, and still no shad on the bank. Rumor has it a couple of roes were caught around Bart's this morning, but I've heard nothing but rumors.
I was out behind Bart's after work today, from about 5:pm to 7:pm. I fished with a couple of the regulars. About 5:45p somebody hooked up, but the fight didn't last long before Mr. Shad jumped and threw the hook. 10 minutes later, I had a solid hook up. It shook it's head pretty good, then ran deep, and stripped a few yards off the reel--I love that sound! We got a few looks at it, but when I felt it roll and turn at the bank, it dropped the hook. We only had a few more bumps after that, and by 6:30p it was dead.
The water wasn't too high, but it was clear and flowing pretty well. Surface temp was about 50°, air temp was a nice 66°F!
Tackle: Rod-Ugly Stik 4'6" U/L Pro Reel-Penn 4200 SS, spooled with 10# Power Pro
Terminal Tackle: 5/8 oz drail over a 3.5' 8# flouro leader. I got the hook up, and a couple of other bumps on a hammered gold willow painted orange with a black dot. I also tried a hammered silver willow in chartreuse w/black dot but there was no interest paid to that leaf.
I'm be out again tomorrow after work, these warm temps should get the shad moving, at least until it rains on Wednesday. Tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I did go out last night (Tuesday, 24th) after work. It was slow up behind Bart's, and only two shad landed from 4:30-6:30 PM. There was a crowd on the bank, too-nine of us in the end. Three alewives made an appearance, and I caught one of them to keep the skunk off. My buddy C & R a nice 2# buck, and another guy caught and kept another that looked like it might have run ~3#.
The water was down a little from Monday, clear and flowing, and the surface temp was about 55°F. Tackle: same same, but I tried a handful of different willows, colors, and sizes for naught.
I didn't bother going out today in the rain. I'll take a drive by Bart's tomorrow after work, as we didn't get as much rain as I thought we might. I hope the water comes up and stays up for a bit. If the water isn't too dirty, I'll stay and give it a go.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I went down behind Bart's after work from 4:30-6:30 PM. The water was up over 5' from Tuesday, and it was remarkably clear. Good current, and a surface temp of 52°F, so it didn't cool off much from the other day.
There was one shad on the bank when I got there, and another was added about 5:30 PM. About 5:45 PM I had a light hit, and thought it might be an alewife, as a couple had been caught. Big Blue Backs, too. Then it got a little heavier. It turned out to be a decent buck, not quite 2#, long but skinny. I didn't have so much as another bump. And neither did anybody else.
While it's still slow, there are indications that it's heating up. A couple of people reported that one of the regulars, who puts a lot of time and effort into his shad fishing, landed an even dozen sometime early this morning.
Terminal tackle: I increased the drail to 3/4 oz, and bright, shiny willows seemed to produce better. My vitamin shad was caught on a Chartreuse/Florescent Green hammered silver willow. My red/white, and pink willows didn't get a look.
If it doesn't rain too hard, I'm heading out tomorrow, too. See you on the bank, tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
In spite of scattered showers, I went down behind Bart's after work and fished 4:30-7:30 PM. The water was up almost another 3' from yesterday, but it was clear; surface temp was 52°F. There were only a few regulars fishing or passing by tonight, probably due to the cool, damp weather. It was really good to see the water had come up so much; I didn't think we got that much rain.
Fishing remained slow again today. I caught a couple of alewives, and my vitamin shad. I only saw a couple of other alewives, and shad caught by the others, and we had a few bumps or short strikes. Still, it wasn't bad considering the weather for the last couple of days. It should pick up over the weekend and into next week with the forecast clear skies and warmer temps.
Terminal tackle: 3/4 oz. drail over a 3' flouro leader, and a hammered silver white/light blue w/black dot willow. Pink willows also produced for a couple of the regulars.
SWMBO has an extensive honey-do list for this weekend, but I'll try to sneak out for an hour or two, or three...
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
Late report from Saturday, 28th.April, by Bart's:
I went out from about 4-7:30 PM after knocking out a big part of the Honey-do list; SWMBO got wore out and gave me permission to go fish! :p
The water was up another 1' or so from my last trip, which surprised me--I thought it should have been dropping. It was clear, and the current was slow to start, but it picked up some after 6:30; they must have opened the dam. Surface temp was up a hair to about 54°F, and occasionally flotsam passed by and warranted keeping an eye up stream. When I arrived there was a crowd, and a couple of shad on the bank. With the high water and crowd, there wasn't enough space to slide into my usual spot. So I made do with a tiny piece of real estate away from the gaggle until a few folx left and made more room.
In a nutshell, a few more shad were landed, and an odd alewife. There were a couple of nice roes in the mix, and one was over 4#. I drew the short straw for the alewife. At least it kept the off...
Terminal tackle: I stayed with the 3/4 oz. drail but shortened my leader to ~2-1/2' (it could have been shorter, I had to be mindful of my back cast...). Pink seemed to produce tonight, but I lost my last one on the first cast. Nothing else I threw produced, except the hammered silver in chartreuse w/red dot: the alewife.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I stopped behind Bart's from 4:30-6:15 PM after work. There were a few people there, but not nearly as many as Saturday.
The water was high, in fact a little higher than Saturday, clear with little current, and a surface temp of ~52°F. It was raw, and the wind made it feel worse, and it was breezy to boot. One of the regulars had 5 shad on his stringer when I arrived, and others reported they had a shad or two earlier in the day. Nobody reported catching any alewife, FWIW.
I managed to C & R two bucks. One dinky little thing, but the 2nd was decent, pushing 3# and fought pretty well. It was a good, if cold day to be out.
Terminal tackle: 2+ ft flouro leader under a 3/4 oz. drail. The winning willow was a red (reflective prism tape), and orange w/black spot on hammered silver.
I will certainly be out tomorrow, with the clearing weather and warmer temps, I'm thinking things will be picking up. Tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I was out for a couple of hours today, 4:15-6:15 PM. Incredibly, the water was a little higher than last night. Not much current, but it was clear, and the surface temp was about 54°F. There wasn't much room to stand on the bank, back behind Bart's, so it was crowded. There was one shad on the bank when I got there, and another was C & R shortly after arriving. And there wasn't much to see after that: a couple of alewives, and a couple of more shad. Everybody said I should have been there an hour or so before I got out of work, when the shad were hitting.
Terminal tackle: 3/4 oz drail, over 3' flouro leader, and I threw a rainbow of colored willow for one alewife to keep the off. C'est la guerre...
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I avoided the Shad Derby this weekend; I don't enter it, I just want to catch shad. And to that end, I don't have much to report from my last three outings behind Bart's on last Wednesday, Thursday, and today after work. I was skunked Wednesday, and all I caught were a few alewives on the other outings. I saw a few shad caught every outing, but far more alewives than shad. There were a lot of alewife tail flips along the Farm'y tonight.
Today the water was down several feet, clear with little current. And my thermometer recorded a surface temp of 62°F? I don't think so...
Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz drail over 3' of 8# flouro, and pretty nearly every color leaf in my tackle box.
I'll be out again tomorrow after work. Tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1361
I went out behind Bart's last night for a couple of hours. The regular crowd was packing the bank, and a couple of shad were on a stringer. Lots of alewife tail flips to observe while walking up, too. The water is dropping slowly, there was good current, and it was nice and clear. Surface temp was ~62°-63°F.
On one of my first casts, I had a nice hook-set on a shad for the first time for me in a week--it's been slow. We sparred for a little while, it made a few short runs, but as I reached for my net, the terminal tackle came sailing back at me. After that, I couldn't avoid the alewives to find the shad. C'est la guerre. At least I got to play one for a bit.
I'm hoping the water drops enough over the next couple of days to start hitting the Bissell. I keep hoping the bigger roes show up, too.
Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz drail over 3' of flouro, and a Crayola box full of colored willows. The alewives lined up at the buffet but the shad, not so much...
off... 
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