POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Dear TPFRs,

Reports have gone quiet on the shad run.

Is the catching just that easy that people are not inclined to discuss?

How are things going out there?
(yes, I know, I should just go out and try again)

Gerry

[Art Friedlander]

Wasn't easy for me today.  Fished for 2 hours on incoming tide.  Was slow but still 5-6 Hickories, most in softer water off the main current.

Art

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From: Gerry_Ostheimer <gerardo...@gmail.com>
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52 PM
Subject: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

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[Dalton Terrell]

Art,

Were you in a boat and did you try any of the heavier current? I went just a little upstream of Fletchers and anchored on the seam of the heaviest current I could find and did pretty well Wednesday, but I know how much conditions can change day-to-day.

Dalton

[Art Friedlander]

I was in a boat and initially fished the heavier current right out from the boathouse and on downstream but did better a bit closer to shore.

Know all too well the day to day and within day variability.

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From: Dalton Terrell <daltonb...@gmail.com>
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Art Friedlander <just...@yahoo.com>; just...@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 9:59 AM
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

Art,

Were you in a boat and did you try any of the heavier current? I went just a little upstream of Fletchers and anchored on the seam of the heaviest current I could find and did pretty well Wednesday, but I know how much conditions can change day-to-day.

Dalton

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[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Thanks Art and Dalton,
When the river comes down after last night's rain I will go for certain.
Perhaps Monday afternoon with thinner crowds.
I am spey casting from the rocks and have found the fish just off the seems pretty close to shore.
Gerry

[r...@robsnowhite.com]

Didn't see any shad caught from shore today. 

Sent from my iPhone

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[johnfarr]

I was out late today from around 3 - 6pm. My buddy and I caught a few and got many more strikes; lots of people seemed to be hooking up. Fishing appeared to get much better later in the day, around 5pm. I think the tide started coming back in.

I was planning on just chasing bass and bluegill in the canal and was shocked to see boats available wen I got there at 3. I think the wind and last night's rain kept people away. The wind really did make it tough to row; I don't suggest going too far downstream if it's that windy. Still plenty of fish in the river.

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

To all of those monitoring and adding to this thread I would like to point out that the "Fletcher's Map" on the TPFR site has a running commentary on the fishing near Fletcher's.

See http://tpfr.org/links.htm and click on the

 

• Map of fishing spots near Fletcher's Cove

 

That said, I will be fishing Tuesday and maybe Sunday and will post my results here.

 

I'm excited to try some smaller steelhead flies with trailing hooks to see if that will attract more AShad.

(way over thinking this, but will be fun regardless)

 

[Barnett Williams]

I went saturday from 630ma-930am and paddled out no more than 100 yards. I was using sinking line and 4ft of 0x tied to a green shad dart. In 3 hours I caught 5 shad and everyone around me was catching as well.

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

[Scott Stankus]

I got out twice this weekend around Fletcher's. Rented boats on Friday and Sunday and had great luck both days. My brother and I probably boated 50 or more fish on Friday, mostly HShad, but lots of big AShad as well. Most were 10-15", with a few over 20". Chartreuse was the only color they were taking - nothing happening for us on pink. Fished from 6:00am until 4:30pm. Great day. 

Three of us went out again on Sunday, but only from about 8:30 until 11. Again, chartreuse was the better color. We didn't get as much action as on Friday, but we still probably managed to catch and release about 30 fish. All were in the 10-15" range, 

One of the fish caught on Sunday had a Sea Lamprey attached to it. None of us wanted to touch it, so there's a photo of it in the net!

Looking back at the photos, I figured out that I need to learn how to hold fish better for photos! 

A few photos attached. 

--Scott

 

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================================================

"There are 10 types of people in this world, those who know binary, and those who don't"

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Now that's fishing!
Great photos.

Was there a trick other than color? Depth? Speed of retrieve?

I'll be skagit casting from the rocks tomorrow.

[Scott Stankus]

Yes - the deeper the better. We were I'm pretty slow water on Sunday and I was letting my fly sink for a count of up to 30 seconds (8 wt. Orvis Access Sinking line). 

Also a pretty quick retrieve was working for us - short quick strips with no pause between. 

But vary your depth and retrieve speed and see what works!

--Scott

Sent from my iPhone

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[Rockroller]

I fished next to Gerry last night.  Nice to meet you, man.

 

Fished high tide, which I typically avoid, but it was the only opening I had in more than a week.

 

Arrived a bit after 5, settled in on a rock with room for a backcast and had pretty steady hickory action until I had to leave at 7:30.  Two doubles.  Generally smaller males.  Also caught two herring, my first of the year.

 

This cooler weather has been good to us on the shad run.

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Lane - Steady hickory action is putting it mildly! If fish 3 out of 4 casts is steady, then I wanna fish with you when it is hit or miss!

 

I fished Tuesday afternoon from the bottom of the tide to near the top. Fished the stretch from Pothole Rock and down about 300 yards.

I was using my 13' 7/8 weight spey rod with a 12.5 foot T-11 sink tip and variety of clouser-esque size 8 shad darts in chartreuese, white/red, etc.

 

I did alright, but the folks with the single hand rods were doing AWESOME.

It was all hickory all the time, but for the older gentleman who was in "my spot" at the turn of the tide that appeared to be throwing a 6 weight overloaded with a heavy sink tip it was an every other cast proposition.

he was tossing that fly only 40-60 feet and doing fantastic. It appeared that the shad liked the the softer water close to shore just inside of the main current, but not the back eddy.

They liked the "head of the pool" if you thought of the back eddy as the pool. The result being that if you were fishing where the shoreline current was actually moving upstream you did far less well.

 

There were also two older guys in a boat that were totally dialed into the seam. They were catching on a regular basis.

 

After the first guy left "my spot" which is about 50 yards downstream of pothole rock I was able to step in there for an hour before the tide got too high.

This was a ton of fun as I could reach the seam with my two handed rod and every 3rd cast or so would get a very solid hit "mid-swing".

Steelhead fishermen love, love, love getting the pull early or mid swing. I would cast across the river and across the seam and let my fly drift and sink.

When the current finally straightened out my line and jerked the fly just a little at the start of the swing the shad would strike. No retrieve necessary. Just that little twitch of the fly starting its swing

across the current was enough.  That was fun!

 

After being driven off of my favorite perch by the tide I joined Lane downstream. He was tossing his 250 grain 30 foot sink tip and just rocking it again close to shore.

 

I did fair with the spey rod, but the seam was not where the action was in that spot. Fun chatting with Lane and as the sun went down and shadows fell across the river I got a few more fish.

 

Next time I will bring my 5 weight with my 24 foot fast sink tip.  That would be a blast.

 

Also of note were the numerous HUGE rises, and when I say rises I mean cannonball splashes, from stripers surging up from the depths to take hickory and herring from all over the river.

I wish that I had some of my striper plugs and a 7 foot spinning set up. Or some big herring flies. That activity was intermittent all day, but picked up noticeably as the shadows fell across the river.

 

I need some poppers or big waking flies for my spey rod!

 

I hope this helps people.  What a great fishery!

 

Gerry

[Charles Chi]

Does anyone know how the rain last night affected the Fletcher's and Chainbridge areas?

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-Charlie

[r...@robsnowhite.com]

Water was lower today at high tide than yesterday at high tide. It was more clear too. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Ben Sacher]

Fished from 6-8 pm just around the pumping platform. Chartreuse dart. Action in little eddy was non stop. Mostly Hickory shad (dozens) , 3 American's a few Gizzard shad. caught 4-5 little rockfish just below little eddy in the faster water. 
Shad were in slower water than I thought. Had no luck fishing the faster water upstream, though I was resigned to some really fast water due to the crowds. 

If anyone has suggestions on targeting the larger american's... much appreciated. Do they tend to hold up in deeper water?

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

Dear TP

[Lane]

According to the Little Falls gauge, with this light rain, levels are just fine. I'm going to try to make a run for it after work tonight. I'll come down with a cold or something. Or maybe the flu. 

 

Is the clarity ok?  Anybody see it this morning or last night?

 

[paul daddio]

Was thinking about renting a boat out of Fletcher's this weekend. Will the shad run still be going strong?

[Matt S.]

I can't predict the future but I think an excellent chance there will be shad in the river this weekend -- have at it!  

I skulked out from work a little early yesterday afternoon and in short order was on shore casting from the rocks about a .25 mile above Fletchers. It was a great time; I caught only four, not a gazillion like others, but it was a sight to behold! They are leaping out of the water and bigger fish are chasing them. Besides the usual mallards and geese the area around the river is lousy with cormorants (no doubt eating the fish), and I also saw a bald eagle, ospreys, blue herons, and an owl being chased around by some sparrows.  Weirdly, a fish at least 2.5 feet long leaped up like a breaching whale about 20 feet away from me, doing what I'm not sure -- it was not  a striper or a snakehead, had a yellowish color - maybe a huge carp?  Cat?  I've never seen them do that before.

There were probably a hundred fishermen out and about but they are spread out all over so I did not feel crowded.  In retrospect I think I might have caught more had I been more patient to let the line get down deeper. I'd count to 10 or 15, maybe 30 or 40 seconds would have been the trick... dunno. I do know I wound up losing every shad fly I had over the space of 3 hours hanging up on the rocks--hence my reluctance to wait too long before retrieving--so be sure to bring a bunch of them. A few weeks ago pink did the trick for me, yesterday all my fish were caught on clousers and shad flies with a lot of chartruese in them. Good luck!

- Matt

PS:  Oh, and with a name like Daddio, I really hope you know how to Lindy Hop!  

[Jeffrey Silvan]

I saw a LARGE goldfish/koi leaping through the outflow at 4MR this past weekend as if it were a salmon. Perhaps it was one of those?

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[Matt S.]

Jeff: I suppose that's entirely possible, but I didn't get a good look at it. I'm guessing a carp.  I've seen photos here and elsewhere of big fish in the Potomac, so I guess I should not have been so surprised.  Spotting critters helps make fishing worthwhile for me.  I got my canoe into Burke Lake one evening late last week and was completely skunked (as has been my usual experience there) but I saw beavers, all kinds of waterfowl, and a gorgeous moon which helped me feel blessed instead of just unlucky. Plus I didn't capsize, drown, get a popping bug through my ear, or wreck my trailer in the dark.  :-)

On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 10:23:10 AM UTC-4, Jeff Silvan wrote:

I saw a LARGE goldfish/koi leaping through the outflow at 4MR this past weekend as if it were a salmon. Perhaps it was one of those?

On Apr 30, 2013 10:21 AM, "Matt S." <mg...@verizon.net> wrote:

I can't predict the future but I think an excellent chance there will be shad in the river this weekend -- have at it!  

I skulked out from work a little early yesterday afternoon and in short order was on shore casting from the rocks about a .25 mile above Fletchers. It was a great time; I caught only four, not a gazillion like others, but it was a sight to behold! They are leaping out of the water and bigger fish are chasing them. Besides the usual mallards and geese the area around the river is lousy with cormorants (no doubt eating the fish), and I also saw a bald eagle, ospreys, blue herons, and an owl being chased around by some sparrows.  Weirdly, a fish at least 2.5 feet long leaped up like a breaching whale about 20 feet away from me, doing what I'm not sure -- it was not  a striper or a snakehead, had a yellowish color - maybe a huge carp?  Cat?  I've never seen them do that before.

There were probably a hundred fishermen out and about but they are spread out all over so I did not feel crowded.  In retrospect I think I might have caught more had I been more patient to let the line get down deeper. I'd count to 10 or 15, maybe 30 or 40 seconds would have been the trick... dunno. I do know I wound up losing every shad fly I had over the space of 3 hours hanging up on the rocks--hence my reluctance to wait too long before retrieving--so be sure to bring a bunch of them. A few weeks ago pink did the trick for me, yesterday all my fish were caught on clousers and shad flies with a lot of chartruese in them. Good luck!

- Matt

PS:  Oh, and with a name like Daddio, I really hope you know how to Lindy Hop!  

On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 9:54:04 AM UTC-4, paul daddio wrote:

Was thinking about renting a boat out of Fletcher's this weekend. Will the shad run still be going strong?

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[Jarrod Hills]

I havent been out in a couple of weeks but will have a chance to head out to Fletchers for a couple of hours. Its my first time out there and I will be doing fishing from the bank (spey casting). Where is a good place to go, walking from the gravel parking lot? Ive only ever been there once and that was for the casting clinic with the club.

[Daniel Davala]

I fished the incoming tide today from one of the boats with my friend Alan F. from about 9:30AM - 2PM.  We laid into some big Hickories pretty hard for several hours until the tide peaked high.  After that, we still found quite a few, only more casts from one to the next.  I also managed a decent Striper of 24" or so on the first or second cast of the day.  It was incidental though since I caught it on a Shad fly.  And I accidentally recycled one of the Fletcher's anchors back into the river, never to be seen again.

 

Jarrod - From the shore with a two-handed rod, I generally hike upstream for approx. 5-7 minutes which will bring you to where the river narrows considerably.  You'll walk past both popular beaches where you'll see a lot of catfisherman.  Once the shoreline juts back in toward the river, you'll find numerous rocks on which you can stand and hit the current seams with a decent cast.  Be patient, and count the fly and sink tip down for 20 seconds or so before beginning the retrieve.  Have fun and please post a report with your results.

 

Dan Davala

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[Jarrod Hills]

Dan, thanks for the information. I've got a couple of hours in the morning only starting around 7 or so. What's the best time to hit the tide right for some decent action. I just got the snap T down and want to see what I can get with it.

[Daniel Davala]

I always say the best time to go Shad fishing is whenever you can, so tomorrow from 7-9AM is what you have.  That said, you will be fishing the last two hours of an outgoing tide which can be pretty good.  Check out Mike Bailey's awesome map and see the spot I labeled FISH AT YOUR FEET.  The snap-t will be perfect there, and you shouldn't need  super long cast at that stage of tide.  Of course, it's still fun to bomb them out there for the pure fun of it!  Have a great time.

 

Dan Davala

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 6:51 PM, Jarrod Hills <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dan, thanks for the information. I've got a couple of hours in the morning only starting around 7 or so. What's the best time to hit the tide right for some decent action. I just got the snap T down and want to see what I can get with it.

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[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Jarrod,
For easy access to the good spey fishing water consider parking on Potomac Ave NW adjacent to the Capital Crescent bike path bridge that crosses Canal Road.
When you walk over the bridge that also crosses over the C+O canal you will see an informal set of well worn trails that will take you to the river.
Follow those as straight to the river as possible and you will see a series of rocks that you can stand on.
If high tide use extreme caution wading, because the river bottom is  a series of slanting rocks that are difficult to manage.
If low tide, then you will see numerous obvious perches that you can snap-T to your hearts content.
Except that you want to actually cast either directly across or slightly upstream.
I find the river left double spey to be more effective for this.
If you are a right handed caster then lift and drop your line up so that your anchor is 20 feet in front and DOWNSTREAM of you (i.e. on your left side) and your rod tip is upstream of you.
Then swing your rod tip from your right side to your left side, create an open D loop over your left shoulder, and launch it up and across the current.
(Remember to use your lower hand for the power in your cast.)
Big Mend.
Count to 20 and start your 6 inch strips. You might have to strip into your skagit head as the fish can hold close to shore.
Best,
Gerard
p.s. As a beginning spey caster I will add that if your cast is flzzingly then ensure that you are not blowing your anchor!

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 7:02:08 PM UTC-4, Dan Davala - Founder/President wrote:

I always say the best time to go Shad fishing is whenever you can, so tomorrow from 7-9AM is what you have.  That said, you will be fishing the last two hours of an outgoing tide which can be pretty good.  Check out Mike Bailey's awesome map and see the spot I labeled FISH AT YOUR FEET.  The snap-t will be perfect there, and you shouldn't need  super long cast at that stage of tide.  Of course, it's still fun to bomb them out there for the pure fun of it!  Have a great time.

 

Dan Davala

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 6:51 PM, Jarrod Hills <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dan, thanks for the information. I've got a couple of hours in the morning only starting around 7 or so. What's the best time to hit the tide right for some decent action. I just got the snap T down and want to see what I can get with it.

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[peter odell]

Fished Thursday morning from 645 to 11.    Everything worked - 7 fish before 7 am, and I quit counting at 30 shad. One striper/rockfish that was about 15" took a small flashy fly that I had under my pink shad fly that seemed to be the best.  Fish were taking the fly a few feet from the boat, either following or coming up for it - not how it normallly works for me.  River was in great shape, and tide appeared to be slack most of the time.  Not too many boats out. 

[Jarrod Hills]

That map was exactly what I was trying to find earlier but couldnt. Its bookmarked now. I was up in NJ last weekend for a family thing and was able to break away for a  couple of hours for some one on one instruction on a couple of spey casts. Cant wait to get out and give them a go. 

On Wednesday, May 1, 2013 7:02:08 PM UTC-4, Dan Davala - Founder/President wrote:

I always say the best time to go Shad fishing is whenever you can, so tomorrow from 7-9AM is what you have.  That said, you will be fishing the last two hours of an outgoing tide which can be pretty good.  Check out Mike Bailey's awesome map and see the spot I labeled FISH AT YOUR FEET.  The snap-t will be perfect there, and you shouldn't need  super long cast at that stage of tide.  Of course, it's still fun to bomb them out there for the pure fun of it!  Have a great time.

 

Dan Davala

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 6:51 PM, Jarrod Hills <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dan, thanks for the information. I've got a couple of hours in the morning only starting around 7 or so. What's the best time to hit the tide right for some decent action. I just got the snap T down and want to see what I can get with it.

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[Dave]

Yesterday was my first time shad fishing. I parked at Fletcher's and took my switch rod and spinning rod, planning to head upstream based on the map and everything I've read on this forum. I smelled smoking fish and stopped to talk to the guys from the Shad Restoration Project, sampled some fried roe, and told them this was my first time and what I was planning to do. One guy gave me several tips, where to cast from shore, etc. This other guy who was listening said, "Where are you planning to go?" I reiterated the plan. He said, "No you're not, throw your stuff in that boat with the motor, I'm taking you out!" He had a couple fly rods and spinning rods rigged up. Long story short -- from 2:30 to 4:30 pm we caught at least 80 fish between us, I mean AT LEAST. I stopped counting after the first dozen. By far mostly shad, a few herring, a few perch and one small striper. I got the first shad on a fly rod, but the wind kicked up like crazy so we both quit that and used spinning rods the rest of the time. There were several stretches where we were both hooking up on every cast. We did not move the boat the entire time. I made 90% of my casts into the exact same spot, about 30 degrees upstream, count to 25 and retrieve fairly quickly.

I sat down and stopped a few times just laughing and watching all the other boats. Just so freaking cool. Yes, I'm new at this shad thing. I'm going back tomorrow.

[Jarrod Hills]

Went out this morning. Was rather hit and miss with my casting but had a good time. It was slow, not only for me but the people around me. You could see them popping up to hit things on the surface but the guys in the boats, guys in kayaks, and us on the shore had no shad luck. I did catch two 4 lbs catfish though. Shocked me a little bit because that was not what I was expecting. One had the fly so far in that I had to cut the line. I'm going to head back tomorrow morning, walk a little further down and try again.

[Art Friedlander]

Last week I had the chance to fish at Fletcher's and unfortunately observe some fishers taking an inordinate amount of time releasing their fish.  I'm talking 5,6,7,8 ?more pictures with the fish kept out of the water all that time.  

While I'm not suggesting a formal ethical discussion of catch and release, for those that do practice it even when the fish can be kept, the rule of the game is catch and release QUICKLY!!!

This is just common sense but if you want to take a picture, keep the fish in the water until you are absolutely ready with the camera.  Lift, take the picture and release.  Think of it as being selfish, we all want to catch released fish again.  Long exposures out of the water will most certainly impact on survival.  If you like, think of it as the corollary of waterboarding for us.

Excuse the soapbox but I think it's important.  Think about it next time.

Art

 

[Matthew Longley]

Went out in my canoe this afternoon with my dad, got into a few shad and maybe a few herring.  Picture attached below, can anyone tell if that's a herring or a hickory?

I didn't spend much time with the shad though, because I was intent on chasing stripers.  There were a ton of little fish jumping around us, and I figure they were trying to get off the menu at the striper buffet going on beneath us, so within 15 minutes of getting there I tied on the "bleeding shad" half and half I tied up this week.  Caught three stripers in 2 hours, the biggest is in the picture below.  Not a pig, but left me happy.

[Sardman]

looks like a large herring to me....

saw a ton of them this morning at gravelly

[Daniel Davala]

One of the truly hard parts of my job is having to field test new stuff before we let it out.  Because of my interests, I get to horse around with a lot of our two-handed product line, which means I have to go fishing with it - for work you know.  Friday morning Trent and I headed up the River for an hour or so before setting up for the FYCC, and I brought along one of our prototype Clearwater Spey rods in the 12'6" 6-weight size and crushed them from the rocks.  Super fun rod for Shad!  I tossed a 450 grain Skagit Flight head and a type 8 tip cut back to 12' 6" to match the rod length.  Perfect combination - though I need to do my diligence and throw a bunch of other lines on it.  I wonder if they'll let me keep it!  I have the 13'6" 8-weight Clearwater to put through the paces too. 

 

Trent got into them with a 14 footer as well.

 

Dan Davala 

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[Jarrod Hills]

Dan, I had my 10'10" 6 weight switch out there. It was my first outing really with a two hander. I am going to try and head out sometime this week after work and give it another go. Its looking kind of rainy though. I just need more practice with it. I need to hook some shad. 

On Monday, May 6, 2013 8:27:04 AM UTC-4, Dan Davala - Founder/President wrote:

One of the truly hard parts of my job is having to field test new stuff before we let it out.  Because of my interests, I get to horse around with a lot of our two-handed product line, which means I have to go fishing with it - for work you know.  Friday morning Trent and I headed up the River for an hour or so before setting up for the FYCC, and I brought along one of our prototype Clearwater Spey rods in the 12'6" 6-weight size and crushed them from the rocks.  Super fun rod for Shad!  I tossed a 450 grain Skagit Flight head and a type 8 tip cut back to 12' 6" to match the rod length.  Perfect combination - though I need to do my diligence and throw a bunch of other lines on it.  I wonder if they'll let me keep it!  I have the 13'6" 8-weight Clearwater to put through the paces too. 

 

Trent got into them with a 14 footer as well.

 

Dan Davala 

On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 11:39 PM, Sardman <morpi...@gmail.com> wrote:

looks like a large herring to me....

saw a ton of them this morning at gravelly

 

On Sunday, May 5, 2013 8:21:29 PM UTC-7, Matthew Longley wrote:

Went out in my canoe this afternoon with my dad, got into a few shad and maybe a few herring.  Picture attached below, can anyone tell if that's a herring or a hickory?

I didn't spend much time with the shad though, because I was intent on chasing stripers.  There were a ton of little fish jumping around us, and I figure they were trying to get off the menu at the striper buffet going on beneath us, so within 15 minutes of getting there I tied on the "bleeding shad" half and half I tied up this week.  Caught three stripers in 2 hours, the biggest is in the picture below.  Not a pig, but left me happy.

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[namfos]

Dan, you have my most heartfelt sympathy.   ;-)

On Monday, May 6, 2013 8:27:04 AM UTC-4, Dan Davala - Founder/President wrote:

[Aaron O]

Hey Dave,

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Dear All,
Despite the glowing reports from the weekend, I am wondering if the fat lady is singing on the shad run.
Tuesday afternoon I fished the area known as Bush Cove that is between Chain Bridge and Fletcher's cove.
I fished the incoming tide on Tuesday using a combination of Skagit and overhand full sink lines and caught a large number of different fish:
4 schoolie stripers
1 3 inch smallmouth bass
1 White Perch
3 or 4 Herring
1 Hickory shad
All of this was of course using a chartreuse shad fly.
I saw the cigar smoking older guy catch some herring and hickories, but the action from shore was slow.
Gerry

[peter odell]

Not a lot of fish on Wednesday afternoon, but 2 large American Shad and this rockfish all grabbed a big pink fly left over from alaska trip.  River rising due to the rains.

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Very nice!

[TurbineBlade]

Whoa!  Is this gauge height correct?  http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?01638500

Anyone out today able to give a y/n on whether a trip tomorrow morning is a good idea?  

Gene

[Matthew Longley]

Look at roosevelt island from my window, the river is definitely higher than its been the past few weeks.  I don't know how a 10ft increase at point of rocks translates down river though.

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[r...@robsnowhite.com]

Headed out soon to fish the high water. Going to toss my new baby goldfish fly. Bright orange, should be visible in muddy water. 

 

Sent from my iPhone

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[John Bilotta]

where you going? 

john

On May 9, 2013, at 11:16 AM, R...@robsnowhite.com wrote:

Headed out soon to fish the high water. Going to toss my new baby goldfish fly. Bright orange, should be visible in muddy water. 

[Barnett Williams]

What are you fishing for with the goldfish fly, stripers?

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[Rob Snowhite]

Barnett,

Watch this video. Its where I got the idea. I've never seen baby goldfish in the river, only adults. There has to be baby goldfish somewhere right? I found the floursescent material at A.C. Moore yesterday. Been looking a long time for something this bright and bulky! Ps, watch out for the tree hatch on the river.

 

Rob Snowhite

---

From: Barnett Williams <hbwill...@gmail.com>
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2013 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

[Barnett Williams]

Well looks like it should work no problem! 2 quick questions:

 

1) where did you get the goldfish fly?

2) where are you going to get to the deep water

3) and 3- how do you get to the water- do you row/kayak or have a motor boat?

[Rob Snowhite]

I tied the fly last night. Basically an orange wooly bugger with eyelash yarn from A.C. Moore (baileys cross road) for hackle and dumbell eyes. I plan on fishing the edge of the sea wall at the Tidal Basin from foot. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Barnett Williams]

Where do you park to fish the tidal basin? It is not on the map of fishing spots on the TPFR

[Eric Y.]

At what level does Fletcher's stop renting rowboats? Or at what level is it not advisable? I thought it used to be on their website, but I didn't see it.

where you going? 

john

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[Mike Bailey]

5' at Little Falls

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[Richard Farino]

There is parking around the Memorial on Ohio Drive SW.  A little homework online Googling Tidal Basin parking, or examining Google Maps around the area, or maybe even just driving over and finding it yourself is just as effective as mentioning it’s not on a cheat sheet of fishing hotspots in the metro area.

 

 

R

 

 

Richard Farino

Urban Angler VA | 108 N. Washington Street  2nd Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 527-2524 | fax: (703) 527-3313 | ric...@urbanangler.com

 

From: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Barnett Williams
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 12:37 PM
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

 

Where do you park to fish the tidal basin? It is not on the map of fishing spots on the TPFR

On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 12:24 PM, Rob Snowhite <r...@robsnowhite.com> wrote:

I tied the fly last night. Basically an orange wooly bugger with eyelash yarn from A.C. Moore (baileys cross road) for hackle and dumbell eyes. I plan on fishing the edge of the sea wall at the Tidal Basin from foot. 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 9, 2013, at 12:19 PM, Barnett Williams <hbwill...@gmail.com> wrote:

Well looks like it should work no problem! 2 quick questions:

 

1) where did you get the goldfish fly?

2) where are you going to get to the deep water

3) and 3- how do you get to the water- do you row/kayak or have a motor boat?

 

 

On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Rob Snowhite <r...@robsnowhite.com> wrote:

Barnett,

Watch this video. Its where I got the idea. I've never seen baby goldfish in the river, only adults. There has to be baby goldfish somewhere right? I found the floursescent material at A.C. Moore yesterday. Been looking a long time for something this bright and bulky! Ps, watch out for the tree hatch on the river.

 

 

Rob Snowhite

[Richard Farino]

As of right now, there won’t be rowboats until sometime next week.

 

 

R

 

 

Richard Farino

Urban Angler VA | 108 N. Washington Street  2nd Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 527-2524 | fax: (703) 527-3313 | ric...@urbanangler.com

 

From: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike Bailey
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 12:42 PM
To: tidal-potomac-fly-rodders
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

 

5' at Little Falls

 

On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 12:40 PM, Eric Y. <theeri...@gmail.com> wrote:

At what level does Fletcher's stop renting rowboats? Or at what level is it not advisable? I thought it used to be on their website, but I didn't see it.

 

On Thursday, May 9, 2013 12:24:05 PM UTC-4, Rob Snowhite wrote:

I tied the fly last night. Basically an orange wooly bugger with eyelash yarn from A.C. Moore (baileys cross road) for hackle and dumbell eyes. I plan on fishing the edge of the sea wall at the Tidal Basin from foot. 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 9, 2013, at 12:19 PM, Barnett Williams <hbwill...@gmail.com> wrote:

Well looks like it should work no problem! 2 quick questions:

 

1) where did you get the goldfish fly?

2) where are you going to get to the deep water

3) and 3- how do you get to the water- do you row/kayak or have a motor boat?

 

 

On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Rob Snowhite <r...@robsnowhite.com> wrote:

Barnett,

Watch this video. Its where I got the idea. I've never seen baby goldfish in the river, only adults. There has to be baby goldfish somewhere right? I found the floursescent material at A.C. Moore yesterday. Been looking a long time for something this bright and bulky! Ps, watch out for the tree hatch on the river.

 

 

Rob Snowhite

 

where you going? 

john

 

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[Eric Y.]

What a bummer! My mother is coming in town to go fishing for Mother's Day. Anyone have any other suggestions?

[Dave Marcus]

One of my favorite lures on my spinning rod is a storm orange swimbait with green flash. It kills largemouth fishing and I've wanted to tie something similar on the fly for a long time. Can you bring some of that orange material to the next beer tie?

Dave

On Thursday, May 9, 2013 12:24:05 PM UTC-4, Rob Snowhite wrote:

where you going? 

john

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[Jarrod Hills]

Did anyone go out there yesterday? Im heading out, hopefully, today at about 4. Tide chart says itll be lowest point in tide but since we got so much rain last night, Im guessing it will still be pretty high. Also going to try for Sunday morning. 

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

Dear TPFRs,

Reports have gone quiet on the shad run.

Is the catching just that easy that people are not inclined to discuss?

How are things going out there?
(yes, I know, I should just go out and try again)

Gerry

[Bryan Lanier]

Crossed over the Potomac this am.  Lots of flotsam and jetsam.

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[Jarrod Hills]

When does Canal switch to one way? Im thinking I might not head out there at 4 because of the one way traffic making me drive all the way down to Chain Bridge in order to get back on GWPKY to drive into Alexandria. Might just hit 4MR, if its okay to fish there now.

On Friday, May 10, 2013 8:43:49 AM UTC-4, Bryan wrote:

Crossed over the Potomac this am.  Lots of flotsam and jetsam.

On May 10, 2013 8:39 AM, "Jarrod Hills" <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Did anyone go out there yesterday? Im heading out, hopefully, today at about 4. Tide chart says itll be lowest point in tide but since we got so much rain last night, Im guessing it will still be pretty high. Also going to try for Sunday morning. 

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

Dear TPFRs,

Reports have gone quiet on the shad run.

Is the catching just that easy that people are not inclined to discuss?

How are things going out there?
(yes, I know, I should just go out and try again)

Gerry

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[Terry C]

Jarrod,  you won't be using a boat for several days.   The the river was at 9 ft at the little falls gage. 

[Jarrod Hills]

Ill be going out from the shore. Not a fan of boats in general. 

[Barnett Williams]

Jarod, what about boats do you not like? just wondering. I am actually looking to buy a john boat.

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[Rob Snowhite]

Not only is the water high but it stinks. I could smell it from the 14th st bridge driving over. 

Sent from my iPhone

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[Jarrod Hills]

Motion sickness. Unless its glass smooth, I will be absolutely worthless. I have a john boat out at my parents place in WVa with a small 12v Minn Kota. Its great for the South Branch up there because its pretty calm. 

On Friday, May 10, 2013 10:41:00 AM UTC-4, Barnett Williams wrote:

Jarod, what about boats do you not like? just wondering. I am actually looking to buy a john boat.

On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 10:38 AM, Jarrod Hills <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ill be going out from the shore. Not a fan of boats in general. 

On Friday, May 10, 2013 10:37:25 AM UTC-4, Terry C wrote:

Jarrod,  you won't be using a boat for several days.   The the river was at 9 ft at the little falls gage. 
On Friday, May 10, 2013 8:39:34 AM UTC-4, Jarrod Hills wrote:

Did anyone go out there yesterday? Im heading out, hopefully, today at about 4. Tide chart says itll be lowest point in tide but since we got so much rain last night, Im guessing it will still be pretty high. Also going to try for Sunday morning. 

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

Dear TPFRs,

Reports have gone quiet on the shad run.

Is the catching just that easy that people are not inclined to discuss?

How are things going out there?
(yes, I know, I should just go out and try again)

Gerry

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[Jarrod Hills]

Might just head out to 4MR then. 

On Friday, May 10, 2013 10:47:32 AM UTC-4, Rob Snowhite wrote:

Not only is the water high but it stinks. I could smell it from the 14th st bridge driving over. 

Sent from my iPhone

On May 10, 2013, at 10:37 AM, Terry C <flyc...@aol.com> wrote:

Jarrod,  you won't be using a boat for several days.   The the river was at 9 ft at the little falls gage. 
On Friday, May 10, 2013 8:39:34 AM UTC-4, Jarrod Hills wrote:

Did anyone go out there yesterday? Im heading out, hopefully, today at about 4. Tide chart says itll be lowest point in tide but since we got so much rain last night, Im guessing it will still be pretty high. Also going to try for Sunday morning. 

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

Dear TPFRs,

Reports have gone quiet on the shad run.

Is the catching just that easy that people are not inclined to discuss?

How are things going out there?
(yes, I know, I should just go out and try again)

Gerry

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[Barnett Williams]

haha, looking to sell?

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[Jarrod Hills]

No, it gets used a couple times a year out there. Its also one of those things where as soon as I sell it, I will need it the next day. You know how that goes. 

On Friday, May 10, 2013 10:53:15 AM UTC-4, Barnett Williams wrote:

haha, looking to sell?

On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 10:48 AM, Jarrod Hills <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Motion sickness. Unless its glass smooth, I will be absolutely worthless. I have a john boat out at my parents place in WVa with a small 12v Minn Kota. Its great for the South Branch up there because its pretty calm. 

On Friday, May 10, 2013 10:41:00 AM UTC-4, Barnett Williams wrote:

Jarod, what about boats do you not like? just wondering. I am actually looking to buy a john boat.

On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 10:38 AM, Jarrod Hills <jmh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ill be going out from the shore. Not a fan of boats in general. 

On Friday, May 10, 2013 10:37:25 AM UTC-4, Terry C wrote:

Jarrod,  you won't be using a boat for several days.   The the river was at 9 ft at the little falls gage. 
On Friday, May 10, 2013 8:39:34 AM UTC-4, Jarrod Hills wrote:

Did anyone go out there yesterday? Im heading out, hopefully, today at about 4. Tide chart says itll be lowest point in tide but since we got so much rain last night, Im guessing it will still be pretty high. Also going to try for Sunday morning. 

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

Dear TPFRs,

Reports have gone quiet on the shad run.

Is the catching just that easy that people are not inclined to discuss?

How are things going out there?
(yes, I know, I should just go out and try again)

Gerry

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http://www.tpfr.org
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H. Barnett Williams

(404) 862-2200

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[Gerry_Ostheimer]

MILES posted an interesting post on the river today.

It turns out that the fish he was seeing and foul hooking were likely to be gizzard shad.

BUT another post on his thread suggested that the shad will be hanging back until the water level comes down a bit.

I am hoping that the recent flood will pull in another big push of shad in a few more days!!!

Gerry

 

Tons of fish in the Potomac today -- many of them catchable. Video here of what I take to be American Shad swimming upstream:

http://miles.oppidi.net/diss/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/amshad.m4v

The video quality is poor, but more than a dozen fish passed while I was filming. A few of them are pretty obvious.

I was supposed to meet one our clubmates at Chain Bridge today around 7:45, but was delayed by a flat tire. After the attendant at the Shell station blew me off, I changed out the spare and got back on the road. Then I got to the river, and said TPFRer was nowhere to be seen, the river was blown out, and I was underdressed for the weather. It was looking to be the worst day ever, but the VGDIF calendar says this is a red-fish day (red means "excellent"), so I thought I'd at least give it a shot.

I strung up next to the pool right beneath Chain Bridge (DC side), and immediately saw fishy activity. I mostly fished there, and in the course of a few hours landed several nice Americans. I hooked probably two dozen or more, but had a lot of trouble landing them. I also caught dozens of 8-10" white perch. After getting tired of that pool, I wandered upstream, and realized there were fish climbing the eddies all along that shore. I hooked into one fish that beelined downstream in heavy current, taking me into backing as I scrambled downstream, before I gave up and horsed the fly loose.

Now the bad news: about 90% of the shad that I landed were foul-hooked, many of them on the shoulder right beneath the dorsal fin. I did land some fish who were mouth-hooked, and some of the foul-hooks were in the face, so I know the fish were sometimes striking the fly. In fact, I took one of my successful patterns and straightened the bend, and fished that for about 15 minutes just to confirm that I was getting strikes. Still, I was pretty ambivalent about landing the foul-hooked fish -- notice the lack of grip-and-grin shots. I tried changing flies, changing my retrieve, not striking as hard, but never got to where I was only getting fair hook-ups. I think the water is just so dirty the fish can't see the fly to swim away from it, and they were bunched up very tightly in spots.

Snakeheads? Oh, right. I decided to pack it in and started walking back to my car on the other side of the bridge, but stopped just to check things out once more. I saw two snakeheads surface in the pool just upstream from the bridge, so I went back to my car for floating line and returned to the river. I stood under the bridge in the shadows and threw tiny baitfish flies on a 13' leader, right in the snakhead hole, but got nothing. I changed flies a bunch of times, changed locations to fish different angles, and moved closer and closer until I was just standing next to the hole, poking snakeheads with my rod. There were probably 4-8 in there, I think because the water flowing in from the stagnant pools was a bit warmer than the main river. At one point I let my fly sit right on a snakehead's nose for like 20 seconds, like a black lab with a dog biscuit. They wouldn't open their mouths for anything except air -- not in anger, not in self-defense, and certainly not in hunger. As I was leaving two guys showed up at the hole and started dip-netting the snakeheads.

So, point being -- may all your bad days be this good.

On Thursday, April 18, 2013 2:52:52 PM UTC-4, Gerry_Ostheimer wrote:

[Miles]

Looking to redeem myself from the above epic gizzard shad post fail, I took my colleague Mike Dailey out Somewhere On The Potomac (email me for the location;) this morning. He caught three hickories and the American (???)* in the picture. Also a ton of small perch. All of this was using an olive clouser minnow, while my arsenal of brightly colored shad flies got nothing. I missed a couple strikes, but nothing like the attention Dailey got on that olive clouser. Alas, he only had the one -- and a white clouser didn't get anything, either.

Miles

(* Actually, this time I'm pretty sure.) 

[Gerry_Ostheimer]

Redemption!

Great fish.