Shad on the Fly

Marc I'm targeting shad and would be down to try another river. maybe the schuykill?
Sandfly Ive been snagging a decent amount. Ive been using a 450 grain head with weighted flies.
I think i could have gotten them on sunday but i would have been casting right in front of the boats
Ill keep you guys updated I should be out soon
 
I've picked 70 in the Delaware in just the last few days. Picked up a pristine BVK 8wt on Ebay. Been throwing 1/8 and 1/16 darts. The Delaware is in excellent shape to wade and flyfish right now below Easton. This is the best run of real brutes in about 15 years - 4->7 lbs. GO GET THEM.
shad2014-3.jpg
 
Had a buddy call last night telling me they are getting an average 50 a day or more now on fly.. no jigs
 
Hit the skuke yesterday no taker. Ive also been seeing some good reports of bass on the delaware so maybe by the end of the weekend things will be getting good.
 
If you are planning on going for shad in the next week, I recommend the weekend, Monday, and Tuesday. Predicted mid-week air temps will most likely slow down or temporarily shut down the action due to attendant falling water temps.

By the way, shad don't protect their young. Since they are broadcast spawners and spawn over a period of days, they have no idea who their young are.
 
Fished the mighty Delaware in Lambertville today in the area of Alexuaken Creek. The shad were very cooperative and very big - easily caught close to fifty. All white shad flies on a full sink line rapidly retrieved right long the the bottom did the trick.

The big excitement came while fighting one. I felt the solid whack of a striper so I released tension and tried to loosen my drag as quickly as possible but unfortunately he grabbed the stunned shad and started to run before the drag was loose; felt the tension and dropped the shad. He certainly felt like a nice sized striper. When I finally got the shad ashore he showed the tell-tale scrape marks of a once upon a time being in the clutches of a striper's mouth.

I have fished the Big D for shad several prior times and fished many lessor known rivers and today was by far the most productive day.

 
They are pretty thick in Deer Creek in Maryland right now.
 
got out on the skuke today from about 2 to 7. started fishing for stripers. I really just wanted to see how a game changer fly I tied worked. made my way all the way up to the falls. then switched to shad. second cast hooked one. shook me off. ended up getting about ten to hand must of lost 30. pink bucktail fly and a gold flash fly seemed to be the ticket. the best part was I had the whole stream to myself.
 
Fished the lower sus q on Saturday. Managed to bring my first 2 shad of the year to hand, but it was very slow. The water level is still high and muddy and it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets any better. Other guys are reporting that they are getting into a lot of shad at the mouth of deer creek. I drove by there on Saturday and decided it would be best to find another spot where I could swing a fly rod without giving someone a surprise piercing.
 
Mark, Were they hickory shad, gizzard sha or American shad. Do you know how to tell them apart?
 
the ones that I counted were americans. I did snag a few gizzards but they are dead weight. I am positive there were no hickories.

its probably the right way to tell but the skuke seems to have a higher number of americans and they seem to come before the hickories. the americans also are just a bigger fish. they have a more rounded back then hickories. I think the right way is to look at their jaw in relation to its eye. right? hickories jaw go further behind the eye and americans don't. gizzards have little mouths. regardless I usually just snap a pic then let them go soon after.
 
fishhead wrote:
They are pretty thick in Deer Creek in Maryland right now.
Click to expand...

is that tidal water or would i need a MD freshwater license ?

Thanks

Mark.
 
I personally have never fished deer Creek but a friend of mine does. He caught what looked the be a thirty pound bass there last spring so my guess is it probably is tidal. He was shad fishing when it grabbed his shad.
 
geebee, depends on where you wanna fish deer creek. Below the old railroad bridge you will need the bay/tidal license and a saltwater registration. Above the bridge and it's freshwater, so you would need a freshwater license and probably the saltwater reg just to be safe (it's free anyway).

It gets really crowded. It's often too crowded to enjoy fly fishing imo. your best bet is probably early in the morning on a weekday or just move around a little and find your own pod of fish.
 
Thanks Icy - i have the National Saltwater Registration, which was $25. are you saying I need a tidal license TOO ????

wow. that sucks. NJ and MA etc are free to fish with the NOAA.
 
Just the freshwater license till you get to the mouth where it empties into the susky.
 
Tried the skuke yesterday around 5. The river was still pretty blown out from the Tuesday rain plus the temperature drop probably slow down the fish. Fished for about an hour morw for stripers cause I couldn't get to my shad spot because water flow was to high. Might try today to try to get some bait for stripers in the delaware on sat.
 
I just got back from Va. Crappie are biting on the Chickahominy and Shad bite was good this morning on the Rappahonic in Fredricksburg. Water was high and almost muddy but the shad did not seem to mine. It was nice for the good folks on Crappie.com to give me some info. to make for a successful trip
 
I fished Susky. behind Conowingo dam and did well. Plenty of shad even with high off colored water. Did not fish Dear creek but it was clearer and had shad in it. When the river flow drops fishing will get really good from the dam through the park. Licenses are somewhat strange. I use my Va salt water licence there as long as I am in the river below the dam. Va and Md have a agreement on it and with it they do not require a individual saltwater registration. It is included with your Va salt license.
 
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