Things are looking up! Solo float today resulted in double digits but it took 8 hours so they are not in thick. Hot flies were the Bloody Maria, Red Lipstick and my new Black Pearl.
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Things are looking up! Solo float today resulted in double digits but it took 8 hours so they are not in thick. Hot flies were the Bloody Maria, Red Lipstick and my new Black Pearl.
Wow...........May should be a good month.
I guess it is time to put your tackle in your vehicle and hit it in the evens?
Captain Andy Guibord said he was probably going to start guiding Shad/Striper trips in the American river next week?
There are shad throughout the whole river but not in big numbers with the most mid river. Fished this am for a couple of hours mid river and got a handful. Then Earle and I floated this afternoon and got double digits to the boat. The normal spots most anglers fish are froggy due to the low flow so the places that are swingable will be coveted unless the flows are bumped up.
Bob Simms said Rick from Fly Fishing Specialties took a ride all the way up the Yuba to DeGuarre Dam and didn't take or see a single fish.
The higher you go in the river system the longer it takes for them to get here.
Tony
Hey Tony, that ride up was with me on Friday. We looked in all the usual holes from bottom to top and top to bottom didn't see any shad. But saw sturgeon, stripers, trout and lots of sucker/squaw fish. With that said should be any day now.
Floated a few hours this morning. Didn’t see any shad floating down but did see one boat pull a few so they are there. We were targeting stripers and stuck a few schoolies for the kids to reel in. Can’t wait to get them on a school of shad. Should be fun for them this year as they both can cast a spin rod pretty good. Hoping for the best as it’s been 10+ years since I’ve target shad.
Flows are down and water is low. Also seems like more homeless camps along the river than last year...
Hope to be out later this week in the am
Earle and I only got a handful today on a short float. Broke a rod fighting a shad due to a nick from a tungsten bead head fly (bad single handed casting). The big push is in it’s way.
I use two handed rods exclusively for both wading and boat fishing. Most of the time I’ll do spey casts from the boat but occasionally I’ll single hand cast when I use 30 ft of LC13 or T-11 and a running line. Also the rods are 11 ft 5 or 6 wt switch rods.
Spent late afternoon on the upper rive and stuck only three. I also didn't see a school the whole time. I'm sure by the end of the week they will be thick. The flows seem especially low compared to last year's flows.
My father and I hit double digits yesterday fishing the middle part of the river wading. The hot fly was a #10 firecracker. The Shad still seem like they are moving in and are not quite packed up yet. Nonetheless, it was fun!
Yes flows are down big time compared to last years 5k minimum it was as high as 10k in June!
Had a good day sat with 6 fish in about an hour. Sunday got 10 total with a buddy in same general area. Both days the bite slowed down in the evening...don’t know if it was the fish or I needed to move spots.
Fished early this morning with Smitty mid river and we got into some but it wasn’t lights out. Andy called me while I was fishing to ask if I wanted to do a recon in his jet Lowe. Obviously when Andy asked you I’d you want to go look for shad with him you jump on it. We launched his boat mid-river and it was initially slow but we stated to find one or two here and there. We finally found a bunch in some shallow water. Always great to fish with Capt. Andy.
We didn’t see any stripers and no big pods of shad and Andy has a keen eye for spotting stripers.
Fished this morning midriver and did well until it got crowded with bobber anglers. Hot fly was the Firecracker
Did a solo float (upper river to mid-river). Got one or two here and there from the top to the take-out but did pickup a half dozen in one mid-river hole that was a wind tunnel. The North wind was brutal in a few reaches. FYI, went by an angler who told me the Harrington was packed.
Yep, I walked the bank at Gristmill, both Harrington and Gristmill were both shoulder to shoulder. I didn't realize shad were only at that one riffle..
On a serious note, did a float from SB to Rossmoore today. No visible shad above Sunrise, but plenty all the way down from Sunrise.
Hopefully they bump the flows up some to open up some more water.
Floated in the mini today and got over 20. Broke my 6 wt Method switch rod fighting a strong shad!
When you guy say “float” are you stoping and holding up in different areas or are you truly drifted key spots and working it similar to stripers. Thanks and just trying this out this year on the fly. It’s been fun so far but tough to put down the striper rod. Trying to get into a good spot for the boys to get some good action. Thanks guys!
I normally stop at good holding water.
How do you break so many rods???
I think it’s because I try to get them in as fast ask possible and released. I don’t like to overplay fish.
Floated with Earle Sloan this afternoon. It was slow for me at the start with Earle going 3:1 to me but the last hour we fished tables were turned and it was 3:1 in my favor. We ended up with over 40 to the boat. The low flow has resulted in only a few places you can get a good swing. It was very busy with anglers and boats starting early in the morning and lasting through the day. The key to getting into shad is the right line, fly and presentation!
Yes, but I have a lot of backups.
Floated again today with Earle. The holes we did well in yesterday were very spotty (they must have moved up because we saw a lot of shad in a big shallow flat on the way down to those holes). The last couple of places we stopped kicked out shad and we ended up with more to the boat than yesterday. There were fewer anglers and boats out today. Yesterday was a zoo!
Typically aren’t Saturdays and Sundays crowed? I usually fish weekdays so I can avoid the crowds but maybe I need to rethink weekends?
One of the benefits of retirement is to be able to fish weekdays when it usually is less crowded.
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The boat launches here in Central East Coast Florida yesterday were not very busy............raining, windy and Mother's Day?
Last Sunday we drove sight seeing north for about 30 miles on Hwy 1 along the Inter Coastal "Indian River Lagoon" and all the boat ramps (all free in FL) were full with vehicles and empty boat trailers parked on both side of the road.
Our local bait-n-tackle shop says they have never been so busy.......
Floated in the mini today. Not many anglers except for a couple of spots. Used mostly 30 ft of T-11 and the hot flies were the Maria and the Red Lipstick. By the end it started to look like steelhead weather. Ended up with almost 30 to the boat!
Fished early this morning and got 7 before the bite shutdown. Definitely not shad weather. Went back out this evening but only fished for an hour because it was crowded and windy. Andy told me the bite was off mid river today also.
Hey Jeff,
I always hear you mention the "mini." I don't think I've ever seen it. Do you fish from it, or just beach it,
fish from the bank, and then get back in and keep floating? That's what I've always done with my kayak.
It's not practical to fish from because you start spinning.
Glad you're getting into them as usual...keep Chingin' 'em!
Btw, got a pic of the mini??
Here's a picture of Jeff's pontoon and my kayak when we floated two years ago.
Eric
EDawg,
Most of the time I anchor and fish from the boat. Sometimes I’ll use it as a water taxi and swing a run. I’ll text you a pic!
Fished this afternoon. I wasn’t expecting much because it’s normally slow when the flows change but I found a bucket and got into double digits. The funny part was even though I could cast over a country mile I got most most of my fish with no more than 20 ft of running out. 15 ft Type 8 sink tip and the Red Lipstick were the winning combo! FYI, it’s getting crazy busy for the evening with anglers and boats everywhere!
Went for a solo float today. Hardly anyone around because it was dreary weather. People and boats started showing up as the weather cleared. Used different flies but the overall winner was the Red Lipstick followed by the Maria. I sure wish it would warm up because if it’s not 90+ degrees it’s not shad weather.
Floated today and it was very slow. Spots that were good yesterday were not good today. No one did well that I talked to but tomorrow is another day!