27.April: I arrived behind Bart's about 4:30 pm to a crowd of 9 or 10. There were no shad on the bank, but several had been C&R before I got there. The water was down at least 2' from yesterday, clear, and the current was strong. The bite was slow, but I saw 3 or 4 C&R, and a couple kept. Some of the hook ups were "soft", several of us got the grab and run, and after a few head shakes, they were gone. I had 2 hooksets, but lost them when the water got skinny. One was nice, long and fat, and it felt good to feel the weight tugging back. Two alewives were C&R, fat bastids they were, too. I headed out after 2 hours on the rocks.

411 seems to indicate the CT river is too fast and muddy. If we don't get too much rain Saturday into Sunday, I'm hoping it clears up enough to head to Rocky Hill, or Cromwell. I may take a drive down on Saturday morning before the rain to see if conditions are improving. It's go time, tight lines!

Terminal tackle: 1 oz. drail (3/4 wouldn't hold the bottom if you could get it down there), over 2.5' 10# flouro leader, and a Spotty hammered willow. I noticed a couple of other shadaholics tossing Spottys to some effect, and pink seemed to draw a couple of hits.