All Things Shad Related!

I had a great time when I was up north. I had a number of things to take care of and much of it.. is shad related, of course..


TU Presentation
One of the things on the list was a presentation at the Nutmeg TU Chapter in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This was a presentation that John Kovach helped organized which I very much appreciate as he knows I love shad fishing and certainly sharing the fishery with others. I had a good time meeting the members and chatting with them about the shad fishery. If you are a local, reach out to John about joining this fun TU chapter filled with fishing events organized on their calendar.

 If you are interested in having me as a speaker at your fishing organization, please reach out.





Guided trip

 I had the pleasure of meeting Adam and taking him out to fish for Shad. Adam is a fascinated by the American Shad from a book (The Founding Fish by John McPhee) that he read - and the rich history behind this fish. His wife booked him a fishing trip with me and we spent the day in the river where we fished for them using ultra light spin gear, single handed and two handed fly rod. It was such a fun day on the river showing someone the shad fishery that is interested in it as I do and enjoying the beautiful outdoors. Below is a female shad that Adam hooked, battled, landed, and released. This fish was certainly a worthy catch, it took drag and the click pawl reel sang and you could hear it a mile away. 
Adam's first female american shad on the fly rod




 Shad Fishing Report - Mine 2 Sense

The fishing was still kind of early when I flew in on 5/12 but it picked up through out my stay and I made the best out of it.

My whole time up north, I spent as much time as I could fishing. The fishing was good but not the best...yet... What I realized this year is that the shad fought extremely better than any other years. I am not sure why, but I am not complaining either. I was able to wade and spey cast for them which is my favorite part.

The current total count of shad is about 143k fish according to the Holyoke Gas and Electric website (http://www.hged.com/community-environment/fishway/fish-counts.aspx).

What this means... is that there are still fish coming through or there is a significant decline of shad... 
Last year the total shad count was over half a million fish.

There are still time to get out there and fish for shad. Lots of the excitement slowed down since the Holyoke Shad Derby is over, but does not mean the run is over. Since the run started late, the run will last longer.

Get out there and have some fun. If there are anything I can help with you, please reach out.



Spey casting for shad

1 cast, 2 fish


Comments