Jeff's 2018 AR Shad Reports

[Jeff C.]

Fished for 5 hours mid day at 3 different spots and it was dead. Not one grab but I did land a 5 lb sucker. There was a handful of other anglers and I didn’t see one hookup. Talked to a bobber guy who said he caught 3 early in the morning but that was it. The flow went up to 5K at 8 am so that might be the reason why it was so slow. For those of you who have to drive a long distance for a day trip plan on slow fishing during the day. For locals it might worth it to get a few during the last hour or two of light.

[Jeff C.]

Went back out this evening. There were a dozen anglers and 5 boats. Not much catching by everyone. I ended up with 7 after the sun got off the water. I hope the slow down is due to the bump in flow and not the end!

[Jeff C.]

Fishing from the bank is slow but from a boat shad can be caught but only at a couple of holes. Earle and I did an afternoon float and we fished a popular hole with one other boat. By 5:30 pm 4 other boats were squeezed into the one hole so we left the hole but got almost 60 to the boat. We counted 8 boat trailers between the two accesses when we left before sunset and I assume they were all in that same hole.

[Jeff C.]

Fished this afternoon and to my surprise I found a bucket and got into double digits. Only a handful of anglers out (mostly gear). Did a short float with Earle this evening and we put over 50 to the boat. There were no boat trailers besides Earle's so I think everyone had it with the scrum last evening. Broke the 1700 mark today!

[Jeff C.]

Over 50 shad plus 2 halfpounders on a float with Earle today!

[Pvillarr]

Over 50 shad plus 2 halfpounders on a float with Earle today!

Glad to hear Jeff. I am definitely Jealous.

My father and I went out last Friday. Here is a picture of one of our better catches before releasing it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ig2...ew?usp=sharing

(PS I tried uploading the picture but it wasn't uploading for some reason)

[Jeff C.]

That’s a chunky hen! Fished mid day and it was slow. No one else was fishing and I only got a couple. You need a boat to get them in the middle of the day because they are deep.

[Pvillarr]

That’s a chunky hen! Fished mid day and it was slow. No one else was fishing and I only got a couple. You need a boat to get them in the middle of the day because they are deep.

Thanks Jeff. And thanks for the update. Noob question here: how do you identify the females from the males?

[Jeff C.]

Usually by the shape of their bodies. Males are skinner and females are deeper bodied. When females are full of eggs I call them C-130s. When back out for the last couple of hours this evening and there were a dozen anglers but not much catching except for a few. Managed to get into double digits using my Red Headlight fly.

[Jeff C.]

Fish mid day and found a bucket and got into double digits. Went on a short float this evening with Earle and we almost got 40 to the boat. Andy was anchored next to us and he had a newbie Clare (that’s the Irish spelling according to her) and Joe P. on his boat. Clare landed 6 and LDRed about the same. Fun evening on the river!