Probably the Last of the Shad (for me)

With the weather warming up considerably since last month, the shad should be finishing up their reproductive business and moving on back to the ocean. This was my third (and probably last) trip to Fletcher's to try for shad. The smallmouth bass should be finishing their spawning also - it'll be fun wrestling these bruisers (especially since I'll be on terminal leave pretty soon - can you say FLY FISHING between rounds of packing up)! But don't let me leave you with the impression that I am ungrateful for the epic battles I found with these fish and an Epic 686 Olive flyrod - they don't call these guys "Freshwater Tarpon" for no good reason. I'll certainly will remember these last three trips fondly!

Me Whacking Shad

Chris S took these pictures - fishing for shad with fly gear on a SUP was tons of fun! Man - the waders and multiple layers I had on this morning make me look like I am 50 pounds heavier... good thing I was having too much fun to care!

Another "To Do" Crossed Off the List

I finally caught a shad on the fly today! I have been trying to do this for a couple of years now but it was not lining up for me. Fletcher's is delivering the goods to me this year - first striper, now first shad. I met Chris S at Fletcher's at 0600. The place was already full of people - crazy! I had the light power St Croix Triumph spinning rod and the Orvis Hydros 8wt flyrod with me. The Hydros was lined up with a 300 grain Depth Charge sinking line and about 18" of 2x tippet. I used three different flies - first up was a short clouser I tied up for last year's shad run. This is also the same type of fly I used to catch the striper last weekend. Next up was the chartreuse fly from the previous post. I kept that on until the hook was bent outward - good fight that was! But the fly I caught the most fish with was a pink jighead fly I tied up last night. I ended up bringing ten fish to hand. I haven't really fished this rod since I left Diego. And if you recall, this was the rod that broke at the lower ferule. But today, this 8wt was AWESOME!!! These fish were decent sized, but they took the fly down stream of where my SUP was - so they had the current on their side. They are great fighters even without the current so I needed every bit of the 8wt to land them quick enough to enjoy the wrestling match and get them back on their way to making a new generation of Hickory Shad. I cannot tell you how good it felt to get hits and a solid bend in the rod - what a great day of fishing!!! Chris S landed about the same number of fish - the shad would come up in waves (schools) so when one boat/fisherman got a hit, the rest were soon to follow. Total carnage and I loved every minute of it (but I had to go at 0830 to make it to the next adventure of the day... next post)