No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1405
Welcome back to my favorite corner of the world, SHAD Season! I've been out a half dozen days or so since late March with no luck. A few others have been out more than I can these days, and they have been catching. Scattered catches to be sure this early, but it's encouraging.
21.April: My brother came up from PA, where he's been fishing the Easton area. Things are at, or passing peak for that area. They have been catching down on the Delaware River. We went to Bart's in the early afternoon, and fished until about 3. The Farmy was mostly clear, fair current, and gave a surface temp of ~57º/58º F. My brother hooked into one but lost it. Nothing after that.
Tackle: Rod: one-piece Ugly Stik, 4'6" U/L Pro Reel: Shimano Sahara FJ 1000, spooled with 15# Power Pro (Hi-Viz Yellow).
Terminal Tackle: 1/2 oz drail over a 4'+, 12# flouro leader, and a hammered silver willow leaf, in orange with a black dot.
22.April: At 9:am we started at the Wall. It was cold and the wind was blustering up from Middletown. The river was turbid, only some scattered debris drifting in the current. A handful of the hard core regulars drifted in and around, most didn't stay long in the cold. Eventually Miguel caught one buck. At noon, my brother and I grabbed lunch at Mitchell's to warm up. Coffee, soup, and a sandwich got off most of the chill.
Tackle: Rod: 7' one-piece Ugly Stik GX2, med-heavy action Reel: Penn 4400SS spooled with 15# hi-viz yellow Power Pro.
Terminal tackle: 1-1/2 oz drail over a 4'+ 12# flouro leader, and hammered silver leaves in red/purple/black (Steve's Leaves), and Bill's Spotty pattern (white w/red dots).
We headed to Bart's for the afternoon, arriving ~1:pm. The water was up a little from the day before, clear, with a surface temp of about 57º F. The shad were not cooperating much here either. ~2:pm, I had a light hit that stuck. It turned out to be a small shad. As I was reaching for the net, it turned and threw the leaf; a lost the shad at the bank. And that was all she wrote for the day. The few others who showed up didn't have any more luck than did we. (AAR rec'd today was that later on, the 5 o'clock run showed up, and about a half dozen were caught.)
Tackle: Rod: one-piece Ugly Stik, 4'6" U/L Pro Reel: Shimano Sahara FJ 1000, spooled with 15# Power Pro (Hi-Viz Yellow).
Terminal Tackle: 1/2 oz drail over a 4'+, 12# flouro leader, a hammered silver willow leaf, in orange with a black dot (until I lost it), and a hammered silver willow leaf, in red/white w/black dot.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1405
23.April: My brother and I pulled up behind Bill C, behind Bart's about 8:30. The water was crystal clear, and almost as flat as glass; no wind! Surface temp ~55º F, and a decent current. On my brother's 3rd cast, he hooked into a middling shad. It turned and threw the leaf just as he got it near shore but not to the net. On my 3rd cast, I hooked a middling buck, my first of this year. Bill netted it, and after a Kodak™ moment, it went to his stringer for his neighbor who loves shad. A little while later, Bill landed a nice roe. It weighed 3.5#, not bad this early in the season. It was released, and it swam off little worse for wear. All good things must end, and my brother had a 4 hour drive back home, so we grabbed lunch at Bart's before he hit the road. I went back to chasing shad. A handful of regulars rotated in and out, but the shad weren't cooperating when I left about 2:pm.
Tackle: Rod: one-piece Ugly Stik, 4'6" U/L Pro Reel: Shimano Sahara FJ 1000, spooled with 15# Power Pro (Hi-Viz Yellow).
Terminal Tackle: 1/2 oz drail over a 4', 12# flouro leader, a hammered silver willow leaf, in red/white w/black dot.
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