6/24/05 report

[JPY]

Fished for Shad last night for a couple of hours at Goethe Park. It was my first time fishing for Shad fishing and it was a lot of fun. Had three bites and almost landed two. Man they fight hard. It was like a tug-of-war with these fish. I think I was pulling too hard and they came off right when I was getting ready to net them. I think I need to play with them just a little bit longer.

Oh, the flow was ok at 5,000.

John

[smokeater]

AWESOME, try using barbless hooks (which I think you need to per the regs anyway) that way you can get them in close enough to look at them and release them without handling them too much. Most of the time they will wiggle themselves right of as soon as you let off the pressure.

[Darian]

Amen Smokeater Get 'em in quick and off the hook.... Next....

[JPY]

Yea, I agree. However, I just want to land one so that I can have a really good look at my first shad. All I was able to see was his back end swimming away from me when he unhooked. Oh well, next time.

[smokeater]

If you really want to land them, try to get a soft net like a "Measure Net". Otherwise you will end up stripping scales and possibly injuring the fish. The only fish I net are the bigger ones that I really want to measure (in my measure net). Any catch and release type net will probably be ok, but the Measure net is low in cost (about $20) and fairly bombproof. I don't know if Kiene carries them but you can get them at Flyfishing Specialties or online at www.themeasurenet.com .

[Adam Grace]

Kiene's carries those nets.

They are nice.