Looking to talk over some techniques and tools for shad fishing. I have fished the tail race a good bit and salt water a good bit. What are specifics for rigs on spinning and fly for these fish?
Thanks
I use ultra light rods with 4-lb - 6-lb - 8-lb line. Many people use 1/16th ounce jig heads rigged tandem, with 2 inch chartreuse/glitter curly tail grubs ( seems to be the best color )but I switched to using single rigged 1/8th ounce jig heads a few years ago, and started using 1/4 ounce jig heads as well last year, especially when the water is flowing strong. I make my own jig heads and use a #2 hook which doesn’t straighten out as easily as the hooks on the 1/16th ounce heads do. I use Shad Darts sometimes as well in 1/8th and 1/4 ounce sizes too, which I make myself.
Tools…I use a homemade de-hooker to remove hooks, a small fish knocker to stun the fish I intend to keep for bait. A pair of kitchen shears to cut through one side of the gills to bleed out any Roe Shad I intend to keep, to give to friends that eat them. I also use a fish counter ( daughter made from beads ) to keep count of how many fish we’ve kept, so I don’t have to dig through the cooler to check to be sure we are within the limit ( don’t want to touch the smelly/slimy things more than necessary )
I also use a length of 14-lb mono ( 18 inch ) tied to my jig head with a surgeons loop knot, then tied to my main line with a surgeons knot, to help prevent my main line from being cut/worn by the underside of the fishes chest, which has some rough scales that can cut lighter line is a fish twists up enough while fighting.
So it is true that you can catch them on any color as long as it’s green? Thank you for the run down.
Do you ever use multi lure rigs?
I use to use two jig rigs, and have caught two fish at a time a lot. You get quite a few break offs though when the fish try to fight in different directions. I prefer to just use one jig. I like the 1/8th jig the best, but use the quarter ounce when I need to get deeper.
Jig head color doesn’t seem to make any difference, but the best color grubs are green, green, or green…
I haven’t tried them, but companies like Booyah make those mini-Alabama rigs you could put several jigs on. Might be worth trying, and you could use a heavier action rod/reel and heavier line.
caught them on everything from a bream buster to a fly rod.
green and yalla or yalla and green- sometimes green and green or add some pink. keep it slow have fun
You can just tie on 3 or 4 green jigs of whatever flavor you want using 20 pound line and dropper-loops, with a bank sinker on the bottom. Not unlike the multi-hook drop shot rigs used in offshore bottom bouncing.
Just bounce your rig along the bottom, with a slow retrieve. Won’t take them long to find them.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
I thought about that to more or less locate the fish. Maybe drift a bit or something. Then switch back to the spinning and or fly.
Just run up toward the Dam at Tail Race. Tie up on the right side of the bank below the signs that mark the sanctuary. Cast out toward the middle. The fish circle around the whole area and will come along the bank in casting range when they do…
It is hard to anchor in the flow on the right side but that is the best action, the Shad are a linear schooling fish so if you get on top of the line they are swimming the action is almost none stop when the waters flowing. For baits I rotate between several different rigs; a heavier # Sabiki rig tipped with small chartreuse and white grubs, a single chartreuse grub or double, and then for Heron I use the smallest white Sabiki rigs I can find.
17ft Key west
Its kind of a drive, but one of my buddies said PSA is doing a shad fishing seminar tomorrow around 5. I’ve been hearing about shad fishing for years, so I figured I’m going to check it out.
quote:
Originally posted by Juice15Its kind of a drive, but one of my buddies said PSA is doing a shad fishing seminar tomorrow around 5. I’ve been hearing about shad fishing for years, so I figured I’m going to check it out.
Which PSA location?
quote:
Originally posted by 40inchredsIt is hard to anchor in the flow on the right side but that is the best action, the Shad are a linear schooling fish so if you get on top of the line they are swimming the action is almost none stop when the waters flowing. For baits I rotate between several different rigs; a heavier # Sabiki rig tipped with small chartreuse and white grubs, a single chartreuse grub or double, and then for Heron I use the smallest white Sabiki rigs I can find.
17ft Key west
herring- not heron -that’s a bird