15.April: I parked behind Bart's around 4:30. The river was down a couple of more feet since yesterday, the water was clear, and the current was decent. I didn't get a surface temp, but mid-50ºs would be a good guesstimate. Almost a half dozen folx were practicing their casts. Rumor was Hunter had scored 1 and lost 1 earlier, but I don't know the time.

By the time I had my arm in a cast, a few more reprobates had joined the circus on the rocks. I cast for an hour and a half, and nobody had so much as a bump and run. Things are off to a slow start. As a metric, Dylan, the boy wonder, would usually have caught more than a dozen by now.
Terminal Tackle: a 1 oz drail, over a 3-1/2' leader, and a hammered silver leaf in yellow/white w/silver glitter and a black dot, and I finished with a pink/chartreuse with a red dot. Other shadaholics threw the rainbow at them, but all was for naught. No fish today. C'est la vie, c'est la guerre. Ah, maybe things will pick up tomorrow...

Tight lines!

OK, Here's my hat in the ring...
I stopped at the Windsor launch yesterday around noon and stayed for an hour.
It was fishable, but no fish were to be had.
Then I went up to Barts.
Now, I haven't been shad fishing for many years and wasn't sure how to set myself up,
I have willow leafs, drails and darts but I think I kind of overdid it with the line,
I was fishing a 30# braid with a 25# fluoro leader on it,
The drail tied to the leader with about 2 1/2 - 3' 15# fluoro leader below it.
I fished until a little after 3:00 without so much as a bump,
Beware that there is something in the water just downstream of the launch about 25' out that eats rigs.
After I lost three I moved.
The guy with the fish hat was there and I bought a bunch of rigs and drails,
He told me that the shad were really heating up,
Some boat guys were 20+ fish.
The folks on the rocks also supposedly picked a few up,
I moved up there to the spot just upstream from the big rocky spot (I was at the steep bank with enough room for one person) and fished that for about 45 minutes with no taps,
But the rock guys caught at least one while I was there.
One fellow told me green was the color of the day.
I'm going to change up my game, see if I have a rod with 10# on it and use that,
Maybe get back to Barts early tomorrow morning.

I'm going to drop off some reels for the fish hat guy to put carbon drags in and I'll probably pick up some more willow leafs,
Anybody have any experience with his reel repairs?
He says that when his current supply of willow leafs runs out he's not making any more.
They seem to be an article that doesn't stick around for too long once you start fishing with them,
So I should probably have a few brazillion on hand at all times.
Funny thing,
I was using a stiff 6'6" rod and I was casting like a little girl.
I've been using spinning gear since I was able to walk,
But I was pitching into the water 50' in front of me with a loud "Thunk".
I had to slow myself down and remind myself that I didn't have a 9-13' rod in my hand.
Could one really forget how to throw a spinning rod???
I'll post of I get out tomorrow.

18.April: I was late getting out of work, so didn't get to Bart's until almost 5:pm. Hunter and another guy I don't know were working the bank. Hunter said he had been fishing since 1:pm, and caught 2 in the half hour before I arrived. A little while later, he C & R a very small schoolie, about this time, Dylan showed up. The river was down another couple of feet, mostly clear, and the current was very good. I didn't get a water temp, but I would be surprised if it didn't go down a few degrees with the rain, and cooler temps last night and today.

About 5:30 or so, the other fella C & R a small buck shad. And by 6:pm, I couldn't feel my thumb and trigger finger on my casting hand, and the rest of me was getting cold, so I packed it in to get home for supper. Vaughn showed up just as I was shoving off. He had tried his luck at Bissell where he prefers to fish, but the water is still too high and dirty there.

Terminal Tackle: a 1 oz drail, over a 3' leader, and a hammered silver leaf in pink/chartreuse with a red dot. I was able to work the bottom (work being the operative word), but the current was stiff enough that I could have thrown a 1-1/2 oz drail.

Tight lines!

April 20 - Barts at dawn
Got to Barts with a buddy while it was still misting around 05:45. We struggled to get the rods set up in the dark with 3/4 drails, 3' leaders and one silver, one green willow leafs. I left the big guns (15# fluoro) home today in favor of a much more "shad'able" 8# setup.

It started raining before we were done setting up, and we were on the rocks by 6:30.
The weather was getting worse, a light rain was ramping up into downright pouring by 6:45.
I came damn close to losing my rod, I stumbled while trying to free a snag and fell onto the rocks at the edge of the river,
I let go of the rod in the mayhem and it landed in the water.
I wasn't that concerner until I saw it leaving for the middle of the river.
One giant step and a quick grab and I was able to grab it by the last inch.
Another split second and it would have been out of reach.

The rain wasn't improving and my buddy was soaking through so we called it around 7:00.
No hits, no misses, no nuthin'.
We were the only ones there.

We stopped at the Windsor launch on the way home and, oddly, there is about a 22' fiberglass boat dragged up on shore and tied to a tree. It doesn't have any numbers on it but it has one of those red stickers that the police put on stranded cars on the side of the highway.

Anyhow, that's all I got.

20.April--late report, life gets in the way, and will continue to for a couple of days--at least a couple more...

I parked at Bart's before 11:am, and some of the usual suspects were lollygagging in the usual manner. A few were even fishing, although nobody was catching. However, a call had come in just before I got there, that they were catching them at the Wall. Bill C, Dylan, and a few others had already bugged out, and headed down. Whelp, I'm not wasting my time when a reliable reporter said he's catching.

I arrived at the Wall about 11:45, and there were over a half dozen with their arms in a cast. Miguel said he had caught 3, and lost 1, and John said he had caught 1, too. That's music to my ears, so I rigged quickly, and put my arm in a cast. Over the next few hours, more people dribbled in as word spread. I wouldn't say it was crowded, but we covered half the wall. And shad made their appearance, every so often somebody hooked up. I got a good solid hit a little after 3:pm, it put it's head down, and stayed down, or tried like hell. It pulled long, and hard, and as it got closer it dug deeper, and made a few short runs, putting up a good scrap before John was able to assist with the net. It was a nice long, thick buck. All in all, I saw about 9 shad caught for the afternoon, not everyone hooked up, but most did. I got my vitamin shad, so it was a good day!

The water was a couple or 3' below the top of the wall, but turbid-you couldn't see far into it. The current was good, but an ounce and a half weight was enough to find and hold the bottom. I didn't get a surface temp.

Terminal Tackle: a 1-1/2 oz drail, over a 3-1/2' leader, and a hammered silver leaf in pink/chartreuse with a red dot, until I lost it. I caught my vitamin shad on a hammered silver leaf in yellow with a touch of blue/silver glitter, and black dots.

Tight lines!