Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: POTOMAC SHAD UPDATE??

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

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On Apr 25, 2013, at 4:58 PM, Charles Chi <charles.h.chi@gmail.com> wrote:

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

On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 4:37 PM, Gerry_Ostheimer <gerardostheimer@gmail.com> wrote:

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

 

 

On Wednesday, April 24, 2013 10:22:50 AM UTC-4, Lane wrote:

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.

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-Charlie

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