Shad news?

[bignose]

Anybody heard anything about Shad at Fletcher's Boathouse or up on the Susky?

Getting the itch and more than a little too much social distancing and hunkering down.

[HJS]

Bignose - National Capital Trout Unlimited does several shad reports for Fletchers area during March, April and into May every year. They reported a few shad were caught at Fletchers during the second week in March. Still no wave of shad but it’s a start. The flow of the Potomac is extremely low for this time of year, holding at around 3.5’ and surprisingly clear. That flow and clarity is bad news for development of a strong run. The river needs stronger higher flows to bring the shad upriver.

The spring of 2006 was also a very dry, ~3.25'. Clarity maxed out at 10'-12', the river was eerily clear for the Potomac. The shad run never fully developed until late April when a heavy rain brought the river up to a stronger flow and stained the water. Then shad then showed up in force.

It's raining as I type... so we'll see if that brings the river up to a stronger flow.

[Oldbayrunner]

Stopped by Deer Creek yesterday no sign of any yet.

[HJS]

Governor Hogan has halted all trout stocking in MD. Now I'm wondering when some power that be might halt fishing at Fletcher. (knock on wood)

Or worse yet, will halt fishing everywhere!!!!!

[ronaultmtd]

Maryland DNR website has adopted a picture of two kayakers fishing as their default page...in this week’s fishing report they are still saying go fishing while reporting the cancellation of trout stocking...

[rugbyfish]

I fished the Potomac for 3 hours Saturday with no fish to show for it. I did hear of two fish caught, but I didn’t see any.

[bignose]

This morning's USGS gauge showed a slight bump, but probably not enough to make much difference. Perhaps next week's forecast rain will give everything a jump start.
Or we will have to just wait until the Dogwoods bloom.

Last year, I fished the river in early April. It was at about 4 feet and very clear. I caught a pretty good number of fish on one trip. Then, all hell broke loose, and the river came up a couple of feet and was unfishable.

I guess it's back to the local ponds fro a few more weeks.

The Susquehanna has been yo-yoing up and down from 14-16 feet, which is a good level if you can catch the river as it is rising. I generally find that for shad, it is about 2-3 weeks behind the Potomac.
The Yellow Perch spawning run is pretty much over and the White Perch are getting cranked up.

I don't feel like driving 60 miles to stand in cold water only to get skunked.

[HJS]

Bignose – I remember last year’s run. Great spring for both shads except for the big rain mid-April. On April 4 my bro-in-law and I in a Fletchers boat caught 75 hickories but no Americans. Flow was 4.3’ and water vis was ~5’, great conditions. Then the high water halted most of the fishing there for a while. Then on April 28, my bro-in-law and I in a Fletchers boat caught 90 hickories and over a dozen Americans. Flow was 4.8’, water vis only 1.5 feet. Everyone was catching. So flow is important but water vis need not be all that great. We’ll see what this year brings.

[mike o]

I might try the susky tomorrow. Will report back if I make it up there.

[mike o]

No luck at deer Creek today except for snagging a large carp.

[HJS]

The most recent fishing report from Fletchers, March 27, says that boats will not be rented until far notice... I bet for the rest of the shad run. The report also vaguely hinted that the entire Fletchers complex, parking lots too, may be closed to access. In which case we shadders are screwed royally. BTW, Potomac flows will be going over 5', maybe 6', by Sunday/Monday. That's almost too high for good shad fishing. This is going the be a crappie spring for fishing. And with the B-more reservoirs closed to everything , I won't catching any crappies there either.

[bignose]

The parking lots up by Chain Bridge could possibly remain open, but I'm not up for that rugged a hike to the river.

I may have start fishing the Susky more this year. It's a bit of a longer drive, but there should be parking up by the Mill.

I think that I am gonna take notes from Joe Bruce's Facebook page, return to my roots, and go carp fishing.

[summersoff]

If they close Fletchers, have you ever a dunk a yak at Roosevelt Island, can it be done? Just trying to think of next closet point for Shad.

[J. Rentch]

Good luck on that!

[summersoff]

Good luck on that!

Well, apparently it gets done, just wasn’t sure if anyone on this board tried it. https://paddling.com/paddle/location...d-parking-lot/