Apr 9thFirst Time Fly Fishing the Shad Run at Fletcher’s

I got my first fly rod for Christmas a year and a half ago.  HB and I also had a new baby, so my rod sat in its tube until mid April of last year.  I went into Urban Angler to get set up, and the guy working the store kept talking about how sad he was that I missed the shad run that year.  I caught plenty of fish my first year on that rod, but the shop keeper at UA waxing poetic about shad stuck in my mind.  I kept hearing about shad fishing.  I heard shad called poor man’s tarpon.  I heard they fight and jump like crazy.  This year, I was going to be ready.

I did a lot of googling: fishing reports, washingtonpost articles, blog posts, fletcher’s fishing report, and forums.  I talked to a buddy (Chris) who said my 8 and 9 weight rods (which I’ve only used in salt) would be fine, but I needed sinking line (Orvis depth charge) and shad darts or bonefish flies.  I had a few bonefish flies, but I thought if I really wanted to be prepared (the eagle scout in me), I should get flies made by the only local guide who is a shad expert, Rob Snowhite.  I contact him via his website, and a few days later I had 12 shad flies, specific to, and proved in, my area.  My buddy RP and I watched the blogs and the river temp to estimate when the shad would be spawning, and then picked a day we were both free.  The weather had been colder than ideal, but we were cautiously optimistic…

We had an unforgettable time.  It was really just a ton of fun.  We had shad jump 4 feet out of the water.  We had shad jump into the boat.  The ran so hard catching them in the net was challenging.  The struck down low, the stuck at the end of the strip.  They ran and pulled line.  They fought the drag on my orvis mirage reel.  Shad are incredibly fun to fish.  We literally lost count of how many shad we pulled in.  The first time I tried to count based on pictures I got to 31.  The second time while writing this blog I got 35.  I figure something around there is about right.  If you time your trip right, use sinking line, let the fly get all the way down (wait 30 seconds), and then strip it back in pretty quick, you can catch shad.  RP had only fished bluegills in his parents lake with my 5 wt before this trip.  I have more experience, but only one season of fishing under my belt.  We were both beginners, but we definitely hauled in the most shad of any boat out there Friday.  I attribute this to preparation, persistence, and Rob Snowhite’s flies.  We’ll definitely catch the run next season, and we hope to see y’all out there.