Jeff's 2014 AR Shad Update

[Jeff C.]

Well it's been a long wait but it's on! Aron and I went on a shad hunt together on Saturday. We went to Verona early in the morning and the sandbar was packed with gear guys fishing for stripers so we couldn't fish there. We ended up back on the American where we checked out three different areas on the lower river. Aron caught a small male at the first spot we fished so the honor goes to him for catching the first shad of the year in the American on the fly.

I went back to the first spot yesterday about mid-day and caught over 30 during the afternoon. The first pic is the second shad caught on the American with a fly and the rest are some of the hens I caught and released. Most of the fish were 2-3 lbs but about a third of them were 3-4 lb hens. There were a couple of hens close to 5 lbs. Tried a bunch of different flies but they only wanted the Bloody Maria.

With the flows going up tomorrow night, more should come into the system and move further up river. By the time the flows drop back Thursday night they should be up to the mid-river. Let games begin!!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Fantastic.........

[Randy Lee]

Back in the game! Go Shad Master.
Randy

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Right now Jeff Ching is the Lower American River 'Shad Master'.

Before Jeff, it was the late, great Dave Howard with his fly, the Wet Pinky.

[Jeff C.]

The bite slowed down last night. It was good in the afternoon with Aron and Garret (aka Guppy) trading hookups and some doubles. Aron ended up with 25. I caught the tail end of it and got 8. It went dead cold before sundown. The shad seem to be moving upriver pretty fast. Hope the bump in flow brings more in from the Sac.

[Mr.Matt]

Very nice!
Thanks for the report.

[Jeff C.]

Very slow this evening. Didn't get one but saw one caught. Aron got 4 this afternoon and Garret got 6. The bump in flows has them scattered and I think a lot headed upriver.

[Jeff C.]

Tried a couple of different spots last night. Got a couple of grabs but nothing to hand. I hope the increased flows brings more new fish into the American. They don't seem to be holding so the fish I caught on Sunday could be all the way up to the Hatchery by now. We'll see what happens when the upper river opens nest week.

[Jeff C.]

One last night. Aron did better before I showed up. Had the day off and fished 3 spots in the lower river. Found a small pod and got 7 and LDRed even more before they moved. They are not holding!

[cyama]

Sounds like most of you are using a 6 wt spey rod. Are you guys using a skagit head and T-tips? If so what is a good starting point on the American. 5' of T11, 10' of T8, 5' of T8. Riffles vs tailouts? Any help would be appreciated...