Got shad flies? I’m expecting an epic run this year since we should have more water on the American. Shad will be more spread out through the whole system.
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Got shad flies? I’m expecting an epic run this year since we should have more water on the American. Shad will be more spread out through the whole system.
Definitely will open up more water for swinging!
Super excited this year! I've got a 14 ft. aluminum boat I'm fixing up with Gluvit and fresh paint. Sadly, the motor was stolen, but I've hand-crafted some oars from 2x4's, and I'll be putting in some time on the water this year. I'm looking up shad fly recipes, too, so that my fly box gets to looking more like yours up there.
Yes! Excited for this year!
Can anyone share some shad fly recipes?
And when will you start looking for them- is the start of the run. More dependent upon date? River level? Water temps?
Thanks!
Dave
When it gets going I would get out with Shad expert Captain Andy Guibord in his boat.
Hopefully, we will have a good flow this Spring....April, May and June.
Last year was a tough one...............
With the snow pack we’re seeing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see flows of 7-8K for a good part of the shad season. The best season I had on surface shad was at those flows, but access for us mostly shore bound types will be a challenge. Will see what May and June bring…
Good chance this could be the best year in a while. Will be a good year for all the boaters and the bankies will have a harder time. I expect flows to be 8000 or higher for most of the season and fishing may go as far out as August. Just hoping the numbers of returning fish are good since we finally will have water.
A conventional jet boat guide on the Sacramento river who fished for Stripers, salmon, and Shad told me that in high water the fish come
in large concentrated schools, but in low water they come in slower, all spread out.
Kiene's Fly Shop "Shad fly tying contest" is getting underway.
Attachment 18864
Interesting pictures of California reservoirs in 2021 and now, including Folsom. After spending the winter chasing bones in the Caribbean I am looking forward to tussling with the freshwater tarpon. Tight lines!
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/cali...voirs/3199564/
Lake Orville seems to be the darling of all the photographers this spring- narrow canyons make for dramatic refilling pics. Still some room on Folsom, but it’s coming.
The American was still COLD on Saturday. No real caddis activity yet, saw 2 but don’t think that means it has exactly turned on.
Last year, my first shad at Sailor Bar was 4/13. I have a feeling it may be a little later this year…
Been scouting the lower river and the first time I went there on 4/1 the river was backed up from the Sac. The Sac dropped last week so I went back this past Saturday. The water had receded but left a layer of mud everywhere (I was slipping and sliding). It was still too high to fish. I stopped wading out at a couple of spots when I was waist deep and still standing in the bushes. Further upriver it was swingable. They should be showing up in a week or two.
Really glad to see this thread again this year! Many kudos to Jeff C. for his scouting and sharing.
Some grabby shad can't show up too soon for me. So far it has been a spring of far too few fish.
I went to the lower river yesterday and it’s still backed up so you can’t wade out enough to cast. Stopped by at the shop and talked to Andy who told me that he hasn’t heard of any reports of shad being caught on the Sac. It looks like that they might be late this year.
I just received a report from a friend that shad are at Freeport. Get ready because shad can travel up to 40 miles per day. The real problem with the higher flows is finding a spot where you can wade especially in the lower river.
Jeff, that's great news! Can't wait to give it a shot when they come in. Can I pick your brain on flows and floating (vs. wading)?
I just bought a drift boat (Boulder Boat Works River Skiff) and would like to use it on the Lower American (and Yuba). It'll be my first boat, and I've only commanded a drift boat once before. Therefore, I plan to get some lake practice before taking it on a river. I know some people advise against a low-side boat, but that is what I bought. I do not plan to take it on the Lower Sac as I feel that would be too treacherous, at least until I get more experienced.
Any ideas on what would be a safe flow to drift the lower American (for a newbie), and when that might occur during this high water year? I was thinking of hiring Andy at Kiene's to do one float on the river with me. But it's a different game at different flows...
Any thoughts on flows and floating the Lower American would be great.
Thanks.
PS I've fished it many times wading, but never floating.
Gristmill to Watt or Howe is the easier float right now for a beginner. In general you can get by on the American with a low side boat but there are a few areas that you need some experience on the sticks (Upper Sunrise Island, San Juan Rapids and Arden Rapids). Have Andy taken you on a drift from Sailor Bar to Gristmill and he will show you the ropes.
Thanks, Jeff. Can't wait to get on the water.
Capt. Maury Hatch told me that there are boats lined up at Miller Park and Andy told me that they are being caught at the mouth of the American. Flows got bumped up to 8000 cfs this morning so the shad should be shooting up river. Finding a spot to wade for them is going to be tough when the flows go higher. I’m going to using 25 ft of LC-13 to get down when fishing from a boat.
Went to check out the Sac this morning. There is no beach at Discovery and only a few bank striper anglers. There were a half dozen boats on anchor on the West side of the river across from the boat launch. Went to Miller Park and there were some bank gear anglers lined up but I didn’t see any hook ups. I expect the shad will be in the America in the next week or two.
Anybody out there lately? I'm hoping to have my boat fishable by mid next week...
Fished Gristmill yesterday. Saw a sea lion as soon as I pulled up and thought at first that it followed the shad up river. Had one grab but I don’t think it was a shad because I will normally get ‘em on the next swing. The sea lion gave a little scare when it almost beached itself chasing a 7-8 lb sucker 15 yards above me.
The past couple of days I’m starting to see more cottonwood flying around. Got a couple of reports that a few are being caught but I haven’t got anything yet or seen anyone hook up. There are more anglers (mostly spin/bobber) showing up daily. When the weather warms up I expect to start getting ‘em. If it’s not 90+ degrees it’s not shad weather.
Cottonwood fluff is a good marker and so is the ripening of cherries.
Still no shad for me and I’ve been trying every day. I went through my records and over the last ten years I’ve caught my first shad evenly split between the end of April and early May. The latest date was May 8th. When they do show up they will spread throughout the whole river in the matter of days. BTW, there is cottonwood fluff everywhere.
My cherries are a long way from ripe. Rainers are the first to ripen. I have a lot this year. Lots of rain in the winter seems to make a bigger cherry crop. I think they will be late and there will be a lot so maybe the shad will be the same.
We live in South Land Park in south Sacramento in the 1960s.
Down along the Sacramento River, south of the Zoo, the land was all sand.
We live near the "Captain's Table", a restaurant on a barge and the famous "Minnow Hole" on the river.
My dad planted a cherry tree that got pretty big and had thousands of cherries, to die for.
We were definitely a spoiled family when it came to cherries..........
Those were the good old days for sure. Unfortunately a fruit fly showed up in 2010 that gets into cherries and can ruin the whole crop. You can spray for them but I have found it is not very effective. Before 2010 I could let them hang on the tree and eat them when I wanted to but now I have to spray, race the fruit fly to get some before they do and sort through them all to avoid eating too many rotten ones. Kind of a bummer but I am not giving up and letting some fruit fly beat me. Sorry for getting off the shad topic.
My grandfather had an old gnarly apricot tree in his backyard near McClatchy High School in South Sacramento.
We had two almond trees and the squirrels got them all?
The squirrel’s favorite thing to eat in my yard is an apricot that it about two weeks from being ripe. I had five squirrels working my apricot tree last year and they were knocking down about 50 a day. I trapped and relocated them but they just about cleaned me out before I got them. They are a menace if you are trying to grow fruit. Sorry again for getting off the shad topic.
To return it to shad, I always looked for mid-50’s water temps. The temperature yesterday at Sunrise was 51 - kind of shocked at how cold it still is. High point was a mama mallard with 10 (!) very tiny ducklings, and one grab on a dry-lined soft hackle Hares Ear. What, I really don’t know, but I’m going with 10# late steelhead until someone proves me wrong. Or a small tarpon.
No huge numbers yet but they're in the American
Yep, aware of what runoff does. No water running down the new spillway, so not deep either, but Folsom is obviously cold, and surprised at how cold the lower river still is based on the 37 years I’ve been fishing it.