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#1740859 - 04/23/18 08:57 PM Shad! 2018
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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Fishing Info
#1740919 - 04/24/18 12:08 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
Sweetchuck Offline

Member

Registered: 01/04/07
Posts: 2311
Loc: Stafford Springs, CT
It's spring a shad report. party2

Keep at it you will be rewarded soon.

Always enjoy your reports.

Hope to make a few of my own.

Best of luck

Save a tree eat a Deer!!!!!!
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#1741126 - 04/25/18 07:37 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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.

In the meantime, tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1741246 - 04/26/18 09:23 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1741322 - 04/27/18 09:50 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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...

Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1741480 - 04/29/18 10:31 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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 skunk 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. rolleyes

Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1741558 - 04/30/18 10:19 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1741633 - 05/01/18 09:16 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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 skunk off. C'est la guerre...

Maybe tomorrow. Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1742123 - 05/07/18 09:19 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1742243 - 05/09/18 06:32 AM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
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...

Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1742555 - 05/12/18 09:49 AM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
A couple of late reports:

Thursday, 10th.May: The word of the day was "Alewives", that was all I caught for over two hours of casting practice. I did see a few shad caught, but few was the operative word... The water was down maybe a foot from the 9th, the current wasn't as nice, and the surface temp was about 65°. The breeze came up and gave me fits with wind knots, forcing me to use a 3/4 oz. drail. Otherwise, my terminal tackle was unchanged.

Last night, 11th.May: The water was down almost 2' from Thursday, but more turbid. However the current was strong, and I forgot to get a surface temp. I was there about 3 hours, leaving a little after 8:pm. Only a few alewives were caught, and I saw maybe a 1/2 dozen shad played. But 2 were mine, the skunk is finally off!

After 6:pm a small buck cast off the stinky kitty. He hit so lightly and tugged so gently, at first, that I thought it was another alewife until the water got skinny. Then he made a couple of feeble runs away from the net. He was beat up pretty bad, both sides were bruised, and his colors were faded and dull. He was C&R after a photo op, but I had to revive him in the current before he swam off.

About 7:15 pm I was making my "last cast". 4 cranks after dropping the bail I thought I snagged bottom, until it tugged back. Hard. No mistaking it, SHAD! She stayed low, and ran deep in the current, working the drag and stripping line. Once I turned her head, she made a brief roll at the surface mid river, and ran deep again. She had some fight in her. Eventually I worked her into the skinny water, but the first 3 times I tried to net her she ran off a couple yards of line. Have I ever mentioned here how much I love the sound of the drag? grin Once in the net, she didn't have much left in her. The hook was deep in the bony part of her jaw, and a little twisted from her struggles, so I had a hard time removing it. She was very beat up, more so than the buck. Both sides were really bruised, missing scales, and a little bloody. After a Kodak moment, I tried to revive her; no go. I wanted to release her, but she was too beat up, and spent. frown I gave her to a guy who smokes shad, so she won't go to waste. She was a small, immature roe, and maybe ran 3#, but what a scrapper.

Terminal tackle: a 5/8 oz. drail was perfect over a 3' flouro (8#) leader, and a hammered silver willow in yellow/red reflective tape with a black dot turned them on for me last night.

Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1742590 - 05/12/18 07:08 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
earl bird Offline

Member

Registered: 01/25/06
Posts: 1637
Loc: Terryville
Nice informative reports.
I have not fished for shad in many, many years. I did start fishing for them at Bart's and eventually moved up to the Enfield Dam where we used to fish for them down the ladder, on the narrow ledge - great fishing from there at the time, although not really recommended.
I look forward to your reports just to relive the good old days when we had a fish on almost every cast. We used the shad darts at that time.

Fishing: the art of casting, trolling, jigging, or spinning while freezing, sweating, swatting, or swearing.
Henry Beard and Roy McKie
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#1742704 - 05/14/18 08:28 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
I stopped by E. Barber St., the Bissell Bridge launch in Wilson after work for a couple of hours. The water was down below the last cleat on the ramp, finally it's fish-able. The breeze was fresh coming up out of Hartford, so the water was turbid-at least it wasn't too choppy. There wasn't much current, and the surface temp was 62°F.

Surprisingly, there were only a few other regulars taking casting practice. Less than 6 of us on the bank, and no shad. About a dozen casts into the afternoon, I set the hook on a shad. Not a big one, but it was far enough out to almost make it sporting. Unfortunately, the hook straightened out as I reached for the net, and I lost it at my feet. Other than the one shad, all I had to show for the effort was a couple of alewives. As nobody else caught a thing, I guess I did well enough today. :shrug:

Terminal tackle: 5/8 oz. drail, increase weight to 3/4 oz. due to the wind, over 3 1/2'-4' flouro leader. I threw the crayon box of willow colors at them tonight.

Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1743151 - 05/21/18 03:16 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
MikeG Offline

Member

Registered: 01/20/02
Posts: 13087
Loc: NW CT
shad are still around we caught a half dozen today in the CT River Windsor area on willow leafs,no herring seen or caught.
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#1743305 - 05/23/18 09:10 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
I went out a few times last week and all I got was skunked, thus my lack of recent posts. Until today...

I headed over to E. Barber St. after work. The water was mostly clear, some maple whirly-birds were floating on the surface but the current was fair, and the breeze was at our backs (out of the West). Surface temp was ~68°F. About 4:30 pm I hooked a small buck, fairly close to shore. After a brief skirmish, it jumped and rolled, and threw the hook. C'est la guerre. About 5:pm another small buck hit my willow but stayed deep, and played in the current for a little while. No runs to speak of, but it tugged pretty good when the water got skinny. I released it after a Kodak Moment. And that was it; nobody else caught a shad by the time I left, shortly after 6:pm.

Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz. drail over a 4.5' flouro leader, and a silver willow with a paint scheme out of a work by Picasso or van Gogh-and I'm leaning toward van Gogh...

Where are the big roes? I'll try it again tomorrow. Tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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#1743377 - 05/24/18 09:15 PM Re: Shad! 2018 [Re: No Fish Today]
No Fish Today Offline

Member

Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1347
Today was looking up on arrival about 4:30 pm. The water was down quite a bit from yesterday and the current was weaker, but the river was clear, and there was less junk floating around. And there were 2 shad in a bucket, while a third was added as I started casting. Within 15 minutes, I was hooked into a small shad. I got one look at it before the hook tore loose, and it was gone after a nice little fight. Another angler hooked up on his first cast but that one shook him off after a few head shakes and a short run. We were hoping for a run, but that was pretty much it for the afternoon. We had a few bumps, and short hits but the only other fish caught were a white perch, a yellow perch and an alewife. And none for me, leaving me skunked.

Terminal tackle: 1/2 oz drail over 4.5' of flouro leader and the van Gogh. Unfortunately, I lost the van Gogh,it seemed to get the most attention lately. A hammered silver in pink only got a cursory bump or a couple of taps from an alewife, but that didn't even stick. Nothing else I threw got so much as a look.

We're starting to see a little "cotton", so it won't be long before the works get gunked up. In the meantime, tight lines!

George Darrell ...

I support "PETA",
"People Eating Tasty Animals"
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