Shad flies and lines

[Adam Grace]

I have a buddy who trades shad for sushi at a Sacramento Sushi Restaurant.

I quess that a good cook can make almost anything taste good!

[MSP]

My Grandparents used to have a trailer on the Coos River in Oregon. They used to take the Shad to a cannery and have them canned. This was about 40 - 45 years ago. All I can remember is watching football games with my Dad and eating canned Shad on Saltines! Quite tasty as I remember. If only my Dad would have shared his beer

Ahhh the memories!

[Darian]

I can't recall who told me this but this person prepared Shad Roe with scrambled eggs/toast/hash browns for breakfast.... Sounds very good . Can anyone else confirm this

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

My fishing buddy at the time, Cecil Wilder, and I would take a Coleman stove to the mouth of the Feather River when I worked at West Captol Rod & Gun in the early '70s. When the rivers were low enough that we could wade on the sandbar we would catch some big fresh run Shad there in May. We would take a big female Shad or two to smoke. We would take out the roe and cook it right there on the beach.

Many smoke Shad and some people pickle them too. Some will grind them up in a meat grinder that cuts the bones down very short. They make fish patties with them.

The California Fly Fishers Unlimited fly fishing club use to have an annual Shad outting at Goethe Park in June back in the '70s. We use to catch Shad at the mouth of the Feather in May and have them smoked so we could have them at the outting. I have old picture of that outting I will have to post some day.

[HC]

I finally got out last week and spent a few hours chasing shad on the AR. The chase was slow as I was wading. First thing, I stopped at Bill's place to get a line and a few bits tying materials. Assembling the rig at the river I noticed there was no end loop on the Rio DC line so spent a few minutes making one up and putting it on. I had a serious case of fish anticipation. The water was high but I did find a few places I could wade and make a decent cast. I counted eight boats at anchor above Sunrise bridge so thought I would get into them here as there was a good gravel bar to exploit. I saw only one fish landed here and a semi-naked man chasing a goose. Two grub and bobber guys came up out of the undergrowth with a mess of shad. It was almost a skunk, saved only by a tail hooked 21 inch sucker fish. Lower water would open up a lot more casting room for the wading fisherman. Right now a boat is a good plan. HC

[smokeater]

Hello HC,

I was just out last night at Geothe and landed about 13 shad. You will want to go with a 7 or 8 weight. I like a softer traditional flex in order to protect the soft mouths of these fish. I started out with a 300 grain thinking that I would need it to get down in the fast water, but found that I was getting most of my bumps at the tail end of the swing when the fly crossed the eddy (when I wasn't on the bottom). I ended up switching to a 225 grain and worked the eddy fence letting the fly dangle close to the slack water. I may be wrong about this but from what I found last night most of the shad seem to be holding closer to the bank. Despite the high flows, the 300 was difficult to keep off the bottom while remaining in the strike zone. The 225 was just the right sink rate and was easier to keep in the strike zone. Once I switched lines my percentage went way up. As for your fly selection, my personal opinion is the only shad fly you need on the AR is the "Wet Pinky". You can pick them up at Kiene's or you can get the recipe off this forum under fly tying. I was using a #6 in white with a reddish flesh colored under body that bleeds through when wet, tied with heavy dumbell eyes. Also be sure to use barbless hooks. Take it for what it's worth, with that set up I am usually getting into roughly 5 times more fish than the guys next to me. Let me know if you need any more advice, or just call the shop.....the guys there are always dialed. Also keep in mind that we may be on the tail end of the run so I wouldn't expect things to be totally on fire.

[HC]

Hey Smoke Eater, You are right, I was thinking the game would change anyway once the river came down a bit. So now I can get on with it. As it happens I have a nice 237 gr. SH that may be the ticket and a real soft 7 wt to boot. I have some Pinkys I tied from last time but lost most of them to snags that would be normally growing on the rivers edge now 30 to 40 ft out. Can't wait to get out again with a little more open space behind for the back cast. Being a nubie on this river is quite a challenge. There is so many places to try! Thanks Cheers. HC