| NCC-TU Presents The 2021 Shad Report No. 2 It's Official March 19, 2020 These days we all crave good news, so here’s some: American shad have arrived. These great fish, so important in the early history of our country and much appreciated by anglers as fine sport, follow Potomac currents each year to the same area we humans have settled and find so appealing. The first American shad appearance up and down the East Coast has probably been celebrated forever as a marker of spring, the season of renewal. It is especially welcome this year. On Monday the 15th, Chris Campo caught this season's first Official Fish of the District of Columbia . Fittingly, he did so while in the employ of the very same agency behind this designation in 2017. Campo was hired as a wildlife and fisheries biologist for DC’s Department of Energy and Environment just before the pandemic shutdown last year. He has yet to work in the office and is stuck at home like many of us. A trip to Fletcher’s Cove usually follows for some much needed field work. Campo wasn’t always so interested in shad. Last year he caught the first hickory on a whim, then gained new appreciation for its famous cousin. Sam Zimmerman watched him inaugurate the American shad season at Gordon’s Rock and took the photo above. Incredibly for a first catch, it had company. A second, larger fish escaped Campo’s tandem rig near the shore. Just a few more American shad were caught this week but a slow start is expected when water temperatures retreat below fifty degrees. Hickory shad are always a step ahead and several fly rodders took advantage of some early arrivers. We are pleased to announce that Bill Garrahan landed the first hickory shad on the fly this year, so far as we know. He photographed the fish in his net on Saturday the 13th, late in the morning. On Sunday, some of the TPFR Casting Church participants walked further upstream and put their sinking line lessons to good use. We know from their online forum that fish were caught. On Wednesday, Adam Hannibal contributed the photo above showing one of four shad landed in the exceptionally clear water. He had benefitted from some help at the casting event and returned with a proper fly line setup. If you go, check out an opportunity created by the river next to Warning Rock . What was once a small cove, then a shoal, is now a sandbar well positioned for backcasting and reaching shad. We’ve seen a few of you out there on the water amongst the striper chasers, but the weather has not been kind to boaters. That didn’t stop Alec Hicks (above) and Kevin Eichinger from trying last Sunday. They put in a couple hours of work for just one shad apiece but the first fish of the year are always priceless. Hicks says that he usually catches some of his biggest hickories early in the season and expects to be back out there again this weekend. It looks like the Potomac might cooperate now that the hydrologic prediction for gage height has been lowered to just 4.4 feet at Little Falls. Yesterday’s soaking rain produced little runoff after such an extended dry period. This time, more color will be welcome and might get shad moving off of the bottom. Warm weather next week could trigger the first strong shad bite. Before we go, a word about the lowly river herring. I saw one swim by my feet yesterday, another go down a cormorant’s throat and a third being carted off by an osprey. I have always enjoyed watching herring, especially in small creeks as they frolic and squeeze through the riffles. A favorite spot for herring watching is Rock Creek. Andy Jung sent the Chapter a nice note about catching one there this week (above) and wanted to make sure it wasn’t a shad. I'm intrigued by this catch and the potential of this fishery. It’s hard to find herring in the mood to strike but certainly well worth a try in the middle of our busy city. And remember, hickory shad enter Rock Creek as well — see last year’s Shad Report #6 about one of them. Mark Binsted VP, NCC-TU Join Us! Visit our website |
These days we all crave good news, so here’s some: American shad have arrived. These great fish, so important in the early history of our country and much appreciated by anglers as fine sport, follow Potomac currents each year to the same area we humans have settled and find so appealing. The first American shad appearance up and down the East Coast has probably been celebrated forever as a marker of spring, the season of renewal. It is especially welcome this year. | |
On Monday the 15th, Chris Campo caught this season's first Official Fish of the District of Columbia. Fittingly, he did so while in the employ of the very same agency behind this designation in 2017. Campo was hired as a wildlife and fisheries biologist for DC’s Department of Energy and Environment just before the pandemic shutdown last year. He has yet to work in the office and is stuck at home like many of us. A trip to Fletcher’s Cove usually follows for some much needed field work. Campo wasn’t always so interested in shad. Last year he caught the first hickory on a whim, then gained new appreciation for its famous cousin. Sam Zimmerman watched him inaugurate the American shad season at Gordon’s Rock and took the photo above. Incredibly for a first catch, it had company. A second, larger fish escaped Campo’s tandem rig near the shore. | |
Just a few more American shad were caught this week but a slow start is expected when water temperatures retreat below fifty degrees. Hickory shad are always a step ahead and several fly rodders took advantage of some early arrivers. We are pleased to announce that Bill Garrahan landed the first hickory shad on the fly this year, so far as we know. He photographed the fish in his net on Saturday the 13th, late in the morning. On Sunday, some of the TPFR Casting Church participants walked further upstream and put their sinking line lessons to good use. We know from their online forum that fish were caught. On Wednesday, Adam Hannibal contributed the photo above showing one of four shad landed in the exceptionally clear water. He had benefitted from some help at the casting event and returned with a proper fly line setup. If you go, check out an opportunity created by the river next to Warning Rock. What was once a small cove, then a shoal, is now a sandbar well positioned for backcasting and reaching shad. | |
We’ve seen a few of you out there on the water amongst the striper chasers, but the weather has not been kind to boaters. That didn’t stop Alec Hicks (above) and Kevin Eichinger from trying last Sunday. They put in a couple hours of work for just one shad apiece but the first fish of the year are always priceless. Hicks says that he usually catches some of his biggest hickories early in the season and expects to be back out there again this weekend. | |
It looks like the Potomac might cooperate now that the hydrologic prediction for gage height has been lowered to just 4.4 feet at Little Falls. Yesterday’s soaking rain produced little runoff after such an extended dry period. This time, more color will be welcome and might get shad moving off of the bottom. Warm weather next week could trigger the first strong shad bite. | |
Before we go, a word about the lowly river herring. I saw one swim by my feet yesterday, another go down a cormorant’s throat and a third being carted off by an osprey. I have always enjoyed watching herring, especially in small creeks as they frolic and squeeze through the riffles. A favorite spot for herring watching is Rock Creek. Andy Jung sent the Chapter a nice note about catching one there this week (above) and wanted to make sure it wasn’t a shad. I'm intrigued by this catch and the potential of this fishery. It’s hard to find herring in the mood to strike but certainly well worth a try in the middle of our busy city. And remember, hickory shad enter Rock Creek as well — see last year’s Shad Report #6 about one of them. | |
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