No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1376
It's that time, again. Time for this shad-aholics, annual shad thread. Welcome to this year's sh*t-show.
20.March: a beautiful day, and my first on the water. Stopped by E. Barbor St/Bissell. Water clear, ~40ºF, and no current to speak of. Water lapping at the last cleat. Yeah, that's a negative. Off to Bart's.
2:pm at Bart's above the RR bridge. Water level above the footings, and at the foot of the rocks lining the bank. Surface temp ~42ºF, fair current, and clear. Radio and I took casting practice for an hour and a half. No Fish Today.
21.March, 2:30pm: another beautiful day. Water conditions same as yesterday, except a tad warmer, surface temp ~45ºF. Ran into Rob at the boat launch, just planning on casting practice, not unlike me. LOL! He gave me my annual "mini" (tiny, size .5, .25?) willow leaf "for luck". Last year didn't work out so well for luck, I almost didn't accept it. F**k it, it was good to see an old friend, but No Fish Today. As I packed up, Gary pulled up, and we traded good tidings with Rob. As I rolled out to go for supper, I thought I saw Radio pull in.
Not much to report, but I didn't want another BOLO to be put out on me! And it's time to start this thread again.
Tackle: Rod: one-piece Ugly Stik, 4'6" U/L Pro Reel: Penn 4200 SS, spooled with 15# Power Pro (Hi-Viz Yellow)
Terminal Tackle: 5/8 oz drail over a 3', 10# flouro leader, and willow leaf, hammered silver in green/orange with a black dot.
cat_in_the_hat
Member
Registered: 04/16/04
Posts: 2267
Loc: Tolland CT
Good to see the shad season season is starting, run may be earlier than normal, I had pear tree flower buds breaking dormancy 3-15-23. I plan to continue researching how to effectively troll on the main CT river for shad. I learned last year that I am not as skilled as I thought, being out-fished by better than 10 to 1 by at least one other boat. I plan starting the year trolling the CT River south of the Holyoke Dam prior to the fish ladder starting operations, exploring the waters before the run begins in earnest. I thought I was hot stuff after netting 187 shad in 2021, one morning having 60 hookups in 3-4 hours in Thompsonville. Last year only netted 38 shad and had multiple skunks on days when shad were clearly present as confirmed by shoreline fishermen catches in Rocky Hill.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1376
Hi Paul, By all accounts, the season got off to a slow start, and my fellow shore-bound shadaholics roundly opined that the shad were not as abundant last year as in the recent past. We hope this year is not a repeat, and that the run starts soon. Good luck tuning your trolling skills. Tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1376
22.March.23: About 1:30pm, I stopped near the RR bridge behind Bart's. Rob and Radio were making chin music on the sidewalk, and we exchanged greetings and the 411s. Not a hint of fish, of any species from anyone. Eventually I pried my silly self away to actually fish--eh, cast. The river was about the same as the last 2 days, maybe down an inch or 2, running clear, with a decent current, and surface temp of about 46º/47ºF; air temp was about 60ºF.
As I began casting practice, Jeff (Radio) joined me on the bank, while Rob went a little upstream to another spot known to produce. Shortly after a kid, who is becoming a regular, joined us. We all soon had our arms in syncopated casts. K (kid) threw a hammered silver, pink w/black dot willow under 5/8 oz drail. I know, because I gave it to him yesterday. (Gotta encourage the young ones, if they want to fish make it so.) I didn't see what Radio was throwing, but I started with the terminal tackle I used the last 2 days. After I lost the 1st leaf to a snag, I changed to a hammered silver, pink w/black dot, traditionally a producer.
Eventually, Radio left, and about 3:45pm so did I, leaving K and Rob holding the fort. No Fish Today, for anyone. I have to go back to work tomorrow, so with the weather forecast being iffy, I'll probably pass on going out after work. Maybe Friday after work, we'll see. Tight lines!
Tackle: Rod: one-piece Ugly Stik, 4'6" U/L Pro Reel: Penn 4200 SS, spooled with 15# Power Pro (Hi-Viz Yellow)
Terminal Tackle: 5/8 oz drail over a 3', 10# flouro leader, and willow leaf, hammered silver in green/orange with a black dot to start, followed by hammered silver in pink with a black dot.
MikeV
Member
Registered: 07/07/03
Posts: 2482
Loc: Tolland
Shad fishing is like the lottery...You gotta be in it to win it. Good to see you guys playing regularly. I am certain all of you shadahollics will get hooked up very soon.
Shad fishing is great. Filleting shad is not so great. Once they are in, I will try my luck with the rest of you. If one gets injured on the way in, I will try to fillet. Hopefully my knife skills have improved. Last attempt, I ended up with filet of snake: 4 strips about 1" or so X 10" and despite roughly 40 minutes of knife work (and pliers) the things still had a few bones in them.
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1376
24.March: Arrived behind Bart's about 4:15 pm after work. No. Body. Was. There. I had the place to myself for about 45 mins before someone else showed up. The water was up almost 3' from Mon-Wed levels, clear, no debris, although there was a large limb hung up by the bank, just upstream from where I usually take casting practice. The current was good, and surface temp was surprising at ~48ºF. The air temp was cool, especially with a light breeze running down the river, and got progressively cooler.
After about an hour and a half, I was cold and hungry, and called it a day about 5:45 pm. Not so much as a nibble; no fish today. Still, it was a nice day to be on the water, and the sun was still shining, if lower in the sky.
Terminal tackle: 5/8 oz drail, over 3' 10# flouro leader with a leaf in hammered silver with pink, and a black dot under it all. Until Poseidon demanded his tribute, and took it. Switched to hammered gold with yellow/orange, and a red dot.
Maybe I'll get out tomorrow, we'll see. Depends on the weather, and how I feel after finishing my chores, but Sunday is looking like the better day. Hey now! It's time to get out there, test the equipment, and work the rust out of the joints. Tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1376
26.March: Pulled up behind Bart's after 1:pm. Stopped to chat with one of the regular shadaholics who was set up in the parking lot selling tackle, including willow leaves. After greetings and pleasantries, I headed up to the RR bridge, where I found 5 more of the usual suspects. Where I spent most of the time jawing up on the sidewalk.
The Farm'y was up another 2'+ from yesterday's rain, and while the water was clear, there wasn't much current. Surface temp was down a few degrees, at ~44ºF. I took some casting practice for a while after the krue left, but conditions were less than ideal. No fish today, and I headed home about 3:45 pm.
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