Shad in Rock Creek?

[Cam Buglione]

I went for a run through Rock Creek Park this past Sunday afternoon. Around sunset, I noticed some disturbances in the water that I believe to be Shad. I didn’t think they would make their way up Rock Creek but I suppose it’s entirely possible since it flows into the Potomac

I left work early today, this time with a fly rod in a small backpack and ran to the areas I had seen the disturbances. Again, around sunset I spotted a fairly impressive amount of fishing fighting their way through the current upstream

From what I saw, the fish were great in number, moved in schools, and included several that were of decent size. They moved in groups, sticking mostly to each bank, and seeming to favor shallow riffles along those banks

I tossed a number of small streamers, including a few patterns that had connected me to a few shad out of Fletchers in the previous week. After no luck, I moved on to surface flies and small nymphs, but none would take

To me the fish looked like they were aggressively feeding, but perhaps the bigger fish were just nipping the tails of smaller fish and chasing them away that was causing all the commotion?

Does anyone have any thoughts, recommendations, or previous experience targeting these fish (that I believe to be shad) in Rock Creek?

[Brian Cohen]

Cam - I have made about five or six trips in the last two years in search of what is known in my house as "The Elusive Rock Creek Shad," and have had similar experiences.  I've tried up by the zoo, down by the P St. bridge, and further down towards Georgetown/Foggy Bottom.   On several occasions, I have seen large numbers of schooling fish fighting upstream, and have thrown every possible shad fly and streamer at them, to no avail.  Based on all that, I've concluded that they are herring, not shad.  Or that if they are shad, they just behave much, much differently than the shad in the river.

I took a short video and posted it here - maybe somebody with good eyes can tell exactly what kind of fish these are.  

For what it's worth, I have caught small stripers at several places in Rock Creek, and presumably if there are herring and stripers there must be shad...but so far, my quest for the Elusive Rock Creek Shad has come up empty.

If anybody wants to join me in the search, let me know...

Brian

[San-Eou Lan]

I was fishing Rock Creek between P St. and M St. in early April and I saw a bunch of shad/herring. I tried to get them to take a streamer, but I only managed to foul hook one of them. I think they were too interested in spawning than to take a fly.

I don't know if they were shad or herring - I've attached a photo of one that I got.

[Jeffrey Silvan]

I'm pretty sure they are nearly all gizzard shad or herring. 

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[N Elgas]

I run here all the time from just about the confluence to the zoo and see them every spring.  I also agree that they are probably herring or gizzard.  They show up about 2-3 weeks earlier than any reports of the hickory or americans and they look to small.  

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[Jayden Sparenborg]

These would be blueback herring or alewife spawning. There are a few signs about them along the creek, though I can't remember exactly where I've seen them, right now. I have wanted to go after them too. I've seen guys catching them on hains point with what was basically a small gold hook with a red bead head and two translucent little wings attached at the head. 

[William Hea]

I had decent luck last year catching them on small beadhead nymphs. Think rainbow warrior or copper john. I was hopper-dropper fishing for bass and bluegill and caught shad instead.

On Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at 12:06:34 AM UTC-4, Cam Buglione wrote: