The poor man's salmon

Fly-fishing for Shad has become a spring ritual for me. If you have never tried it I encourage you to give it a go.

I've heard them called "the poor man's salmon" and its true. When you are playing a big Shad they fight amazingly like a grilse. They don't jump as often but are great to tangle with.

A guy I chatted with at streamside said the other night "they are a great tune-up for Salmon season". I like to fish them because they are very forgiving about taking but demand all your skill to land.

 It is not uncommon to hook three or four to every one landed, especially in the first of the run. As you get more skilled and your gear tuned up, you'll see that ratio quickly reverse.

If you can comfortably handle one of these silver demons you can confidently fish with a fly for anything that swims here in the East.

Wait a second; I've never caught a big Striped Bass on a fly rod so I'll reserve my earlier comment. I have caught some small stripers, they are called 'schoolies' I think, about twelve or fourteen inches and very plentiful in mid-May in some of our rivers.