Nor Cal Shad in the 1960s was crazy......

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

The Lower American River right here in town had maybe 10 to 20 times as many American Shad run up the river back then as we get now.

Many people came here from the Bay Area to fish for Shad, especially on the weekends.

Some famous old fly fishers came too like Ted Trueblood and Jimmy Green because the Shad fishing was off the chart.

The "line up" at the upper end of Goethe Park could be 50 people on Saturday morning.

Mostly all fly fishing with a couple of guys spin fishing. Most of those peole are probably gone now, many from the "Great Generation" of outdoorsmen.

The standard fly fishing outfit was a 9 foot 2 piece fiberglass 9 weight fly rod with a big Pflueger or Hardy fly reel.

After a lot of backing most used some kind of mono like Cortland 'Cobra' which was flat or oval.

Then you used a factory shooting head that was either Cortland or Scientific Angler in a size 10 (~300 grains) in several sinkrates depending on the flow and time of day.

Shad flies were much larger then, maybe sizes 2 and 4.

Fire fighter Joe Shirshac tied Shad flies and sold then to many of the Sporting goods Stores along the river.

Waders were either Red Ball or Hodgman boot foot or Seal Dri Laytex stocking foot.

Everyone caught fish because the schools were very big and "long".

I think the limit on Shad was 25?

This is where the expession "100 fish day" came from......

.

[hwchubb]

Bill,

Thanks for aging me. I wa using seal dris in the 70's, cobra in the 80's, and still throw shooting heads, sometimes with the 8' 7 wt Fenglass and Medalist 1495.

Oh, and I can still catch 5 shad in an hour. 5 /hour x 24 hours, simple extrapolation gives me a 120 fish day without the tired arm and sunburn. It's all in the accounting.

Wayne

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Wayne

We will have to get out there with our vintage tackle this summer?

[Frank Alessio]

When it is all said and done we are just building memories... Like the joker said " Why So Serious??? That cracks me up.....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Yes Frank

These are "the good old days" for the younger folks here.