Shad @ Fletchers, 4-30-13

[HJS]

Excellent shad action again on the Potomac. I fished Fletchers today, 4-30-13, 6:15am-11:00am. I walked a short ways upriver and fished a popular area for shad. I caught 49 hickories from shore using spinning gear. Vast majority of them were nice sized ranging from 15”-17” with 3-4 pushing 18”, only a couple were small bucks. No jumbo hickory and no Americans. Around 9:00am I continued walking upriver and fished off a few of the rocky points in search of American shad… to no avail. Also caught several micro dink wperch and two 10” stripers. By 10:30am action seemed to dropped off substantially. I had had enough anyway so I quickly fished my way back to the car, pack up and headed home.

BTW, fishing pressure was next to zero. As far as I could tell, I was the only shore-based shad fisherman upriver from Fletchers… I had the place to myself. Water vis 3'+, LT-7:17am.

Nearly all hickories caught on a 000 Nunguesser silver spoon with the underside painted chartreuse.
===========================
On my way home on Canal Road (around noon) I decided to park at a pull-off and see what’s going on just above Chain Bridge. Left my shad gear in the car and picked up my striper backpack and heavier rod/reel. Striper action was very slow, but I did manage to catch two stripers, 16” & 22” plus a couple of 12” dinks on an albino 5” Bass assassins on a .7oz jighead. That place wears me out, too many giant boulders to scramble over, so after an hour I once again packed up and headed home.

[camelbird]

Nice report, really hope to hook into an American this year.

Where did you get the Nunguesser silver spoons? They look awesome

[jffoley]

Wow, good action around low tide. I usually like either side of the high tide. Gonna check this out tomorrow! Haven't hit it near enough this spring. Thanks for posting.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice report. I had shad success on the lower Susquehanna this afternoon. For anyone wanting to catch acrobatic fish on light tackle --now is a good time to go.

[bignose]

Hiking into the area above Chain Bridge sent me to the cardiologist last week! Scrambling over the wet boulders and ledges....well, I need to either get in better shape or concede this area to the younger crowd.
I'll keep to the flat lands just above Fletcher's from now on.

[HJS]

camel - On May 1, 2007, I caught over 50 American shad at Fletchers from shore. I was fishing down river about a 1/3 mile from the Fletchers boat livery. It was a textbook perfect example of being in the right place at the right time... and it was my birthday too... thank you Lord. That same day guys out in boats knocked the stuffins out of Americans too.... and as far as I know that type of American actions at Fletchers hasn't happened since. Ooooh, over the years there's been a few days when there was brief flare-ups of a couple dozen white shad caught by the boat guys, but that’s about it. Right now, hickories are on the verge of a rapid wind-down and won't be back until nest spring.

And where'd I get my Nunguesser spoons??? There was a spring many years ago during the super-runs of shad and herring (like, the early 2000s) when shad action was hot and heavy below Conowingo Dam. The river was running high and the dam was in full generation mode 24/7 for nearly two weeks. It was still fishable most of the time and shad fisherman were out in droves. After two weeks of everyone losing terminal tackle, the generators were suddenly turn off mid-day and, as the water quickly receded, two weeks worth of lost tackle suddenly appeared ripe for the picking... and I was there when it happened. It was like a giant Easter eggs hunt for grown men as they scrambled amongst the rocks hunting for lures. I must have picked up two dozen Nunguesser spoons plus a huge variety of other lures, darts and a half pound of lead sinkers. The two dozen Nunguessers I found that day have lasted me a looong time.

[camelbird]

camel - On May 1, 2007, I caught over 50 American shad at Fletchers from shore. I was fishing down river about a 1/3 mile from the Fletchers boat livery. It was a textbook perfect example of being in the right place at the right time... and it was my birthday too... thank you Lord. That same day guys out in boats knocked the stuffins out of Americans too.... and as far as I know that type of American actions at Fletchers hasn't happened since. Ooooh, over the years there's been a few days when there was brief flare-ups of a couple dozen white shad caught by the boat guys, but that’s about it. Right now, hickories are on the verge of a rapid wind-down and won't be back until nest spring.

And where'd I get my Nunguesser spoons??? There was a spring many years ago during the super-runs of shad and herring (like, the early 2000s) when shad action was hot and heavy below Conowingo Dam. The river was running high and the dam was in full generation mode 24/7 for nearly two weeks. It was still fishable most of the time and shad fisherman were out in droves. After two weeks of everyone losing terminal tackle, the generators were suddenly turn off mid-day and, as the water quickly receded, two weeks worth of lost tackle suddenly appeared ripe for the picking... and I was there when it happened. It was like a giant Easter eggs hunt for grown men as they scrambled amongst the rocks hunting for lures. I must have picked up two dozen Nunguesser spoons plus a huge variety of other lures, darts and a half pound of lead sinkers. The two dozen Nunguessers I found that day have lasted me a looong time.

That. is. awesome.