No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1384
26.April: The Wall, Cromwell. I arrived about 12:30 pm in a light rain, and 10-12 people with their arms in a cast. The water was up a bit with a decent current, turbid but not opaque; not that you could see far into the river. Flotsam was few and far between. The rain persisted on and off through the afternoon. The breeze came up with the approaching cold front around 2:pm give or take.
There was ample evidence of shad caught today. The 411 was they were being caught fairly regularly. About a half hour into my casting practice, I had a hit close to the wall. It put it's head down, and tugged hard, and then it did it again. I turned it in to the wall, and it dug deep, stripping line as it ran out, more than I had taken in. When I gained line, it dug-in again, and ran off what I had gained, and it did this a few more times. It was net shy, and tried to run deep up, and down the river. When we finally got it to the net, it was a fat buck. He weighed in at 2.6#, and had fought well above his weight class. Other than a few weak hits, and bumps, he turned out to be my vitamin shad for the day.
By the time I left at 3:pm, several more people had joined the party. I wasn't really counting, but saw about a dozen shad landed, and a few more lost. At times there were doubles on, and I saw one triple. Today was the busiest I've seen on the river since last year. Life is good.
Tackle: Rod: 7' one-piece Ugly Stik GX2, med-heavy action Reel: Penn 4400SS spooled with 15# hi-viz yellow Power Pro.
Terminal tackle: 1-1/2 oz drail over a 4'+ flouro 10# leader, and hammered silver leaves in red/purple/black (Steve's Leaves), Bill's stop light pattern, and Bill's Jamaican pattern. Steve's leaf was the answer for me today.
I will be back down to the Wall tomorrow. We'll see how the coming cold front affects the run. Tight lines!
No Fish Today
Member
Registered: 09/04/03
Posts: 1384
27.April: The Wall, Cromwell. Pulled into the lot just after 11:am to more than a dozen people lining the wall. Most were casting for shad, with a couple of kids with meat poles down at the far end. One shad was being landed as I set up. By all accounts, it had been a slow morning. The water, despite yesterday's rain wasn't up as much as I anticipated. It was about the same color, and current as yesterday, and there was surprisingly little flotsam drifting by the assembled masses. The breeze was generally cooperative, a little blustery, but out of the West.
About 11:45 I had a hit. After a brief scuffle, I netted a middling buck, about 2#. Things seemed to pick up around then, and before I left, I saw over a dozen shad caught , about half went back into the river. Some of the bucks were long and fat. Only a couple of roes were caught, and they were released. Total for the day: one dinky 5" striper (smallest I ever caught!), 2 shad, and 2 alewives.
I started the day with my heavier tackle. After a few hours, I switched out to my U/L set up, and just before 2:30 pm, I hooked into another shad. I was hoping for a good scuffle, but Mr. Buck-shad didn't have much fight in him, and he came to the net all too soon. After a Kodak™ moment, he was released. My back was barking, and I was getting thirsty, so I called it a day at 3:pm. They were still landing shad when I left.
Starting Tackle: Rod: 7' one-piece Ugly Stik GX2, med-heavy action Reel: Penn 4400SS spooled with 15# hi-viz yellow Power Pro.
Terminal tackle: 1-1/2 oz drail over a 4'+ flouro 10# leader, and hammered silver leaves in Bill's Jamaican pattern and stop light pattern, and (IDK who made it) yellow and green with silver glitter. The Jamaican produced shad #1.
Finishing Tackle: Rod: one-piece Ugly Stik, 4'6" U/L Pro Reel: Shimano Sahara FJ 1000, spooled with 15# Power Pro (Hi-Viz Yellow).
Terminal Tackle: 1 oz drail over a 4'+, 10# flouro leader, and a hammered silver willow leaves in white with a red St. Andrew's cross, and Steve's Leaves in purple, pink, and black w/eye. Steve's leaf produced shad #2.
Thinking about hitting Bissell tomorrow, as I'm not inclined to fight rush hour traffic after work to head down to Cromwell, or Rocky Hill. Tight lines!
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