Nova Scotia Shad Run 2008
All right, so I heard through the grapevine that the Shad run is just getting started.
The spot I am heading to this weekend is a great place for trout and by turns, Striped Bass, Shad and the odd Smallmouth Bass.
The problem for me is deciding which I am going to go after. The techniques I use for Shad pretty well guarantee that nothing else will touch the fly, the same for Striped Bass and Trout, although I do occasionally fluke a Smallmouth when targeting Brookies.
I have been anxiously awaiting this year's Shad run because I have a new system figured out that I cannot wait to try.
Here is the thing; traditionally Shad were not regarded as a game fish- around here anyway. They ran in huge numbers and were netted for commercial use or jigged by dragging a weighted treble hook through the thick schools by rod and reel anglers.
Some of the catch was eaten but many Shad were just flung up onto the bank to die and there, were left to rot.
That has all changed in the last fifteen or twenty years. Spin fishermen started using darts to fair hook them and fly fishermen discovered that they would take a deep-sunk fly. When hooked, the fight is spectacular and once enjoyed it is hard not to go again at every opportunity.
The laws have been beefed up as well. It is illegal to purposely foul-hook this wonderful, new’ish, game fish.
The spot I am heading to this weekend is a great place for trout and by turns, Striped Bass, Shad and the odd Smallmouth Bass.
The problem for me is deciding which I am going to go after. The techniques I use for Shad pretty well guarantee that nothing else will touch the fly, the same for Striped Bass and Trout, although I do occasionally fluke a Smallmouth when targeting Brookies.
I have been anxiously awaiting this year's Shad run because I have a new system figured out that I cannot wait to try.
Here is the thing; traditionally Shad were not regarded as a game fish- around here anyway. They ran in huge numbers and were netted for commercial use or jigged by dragging a weighted treble hook through the thick schools by rod and reel anglers.
Some of the catch was eaten but many Shad were just flung up onto the bank to die and there, were left to rot.
That has all changed in the last fifteen or twenty years. Spin fishermen started using darts to fair hook them and fly fishermen discovered that they would take a deep-sunk fly. When hooked, the fight is spectacular and once enjoyed it is hard not to go again at every opportunity.
The laws have been beefed up as well. It is illegal to purposely foul-hook this wonderful, new’ish, game fish.
Labels: Shad Run 2008, techniques I use for Shad
posted by Steve Dobson at
00:56
4 Comments:
I've never caught a shad. Sounds like fun!
Hello Mr. A -How are things in your part of the country?
I look forward to the Shad run. They average between two and six pounds -fight like crazy- take a fly eagerly. It is mainly a catch and release fishery now a days although they tell me the fish is superb on the table. It is great fun.
I am sure they run in waters within reach of you. I will do a bit of research. I am going to write a bit more about the how-to aspects of fishing for them over the next little while. They are a fish that deserves to be better known as a fly-rod species. Mainly because with awareness comes a little more protection and a bit less pressure on the vulnerable stocks of salmon etc.
Cheers,
Steve
I have fished for shad for many years and caught well over 100 of them. I must say the shad in the photograph is possibly the largest that I have seen. Where do you catch large shad like that one?
Congrats on the fish.
Well Ron,
That is a late run Nictaux River fish. I mainly fish the Shubenacadie or the Nine Mile River now as they are closer to home. It is a nice fish but not too uncommon. I think the large females run a little bit later than the smaller males. Most of us go after the first fish in the river and are trout fishing around the time these big mamas come in.
Either that or I'm just lucky.
Likely a bit of column A and a bit of column B.
Cheers,
Steve
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