| NCC-TU Presents The 2018 Shad Report Number 2 Ready to Rumble March 29, 2018 The rowboat fleet was quickly launched on Monday afternoon when the best high tide in weeks filled Fletcher’s Cove. The Boathouse commenced rentals on Wednesday morning and is now fully open for business. A tradition dating back to the late 1800’s, when the Fletcher family first offered Washingtonians access to our great Potomac River fishery, continues for another season. Shad anglers have been chomping at the bit but know that disappointment is always just around the corner. It is expected that rainfall and snowmelt in the watershed will make river conditions unsuitable for boat rentals this weekend. The first schools of shad to arrive this year encountered the cold waters of an unusually bitter March and were slow to stir. However, shore anglers up and down the river began to see improvement last weekend, especially in the afternoon when water temperatures spiked. Several decent catches of hickory shad were reported on Monday, and by Tuesday a few American shad appeared, including a roe landed by Cole Heflin and his dad at Walker’s Point. That’s early for American shad but apparently not early enough to be the first. Only three days after the initial hickory shad catch and nearly two weeks before Cole's catch, Mike Lester caught the first American shad that we know about. He kept us in the dark until he stopped by the shop this week, so naturally we gave him a hard time. On the afternoon of March 15, Mike took advantage of a rare warm day and walked up to the Warning Rock area to throw his usual inline sinker/single dart rig. Not expecting much with the water so cold, he was surprised when an American shad surfaced at the end of his line. He fumbled around for his phone and couldn’t find it quickly enough to take a picture. So let’s also give credit to the very excited young Cole for the first documented American shad, seen in the photo we received promptly by text. On Tuesday I fished next to Gordon Leisch for the first time in awhile. The former Navy pilot and Interior Department official caught his first American shad of the year and plenty of hickories, including a double-header. It’s inspiring to watch Gordon on Gordon’s Rock, the smallest of the named rocks but prominent in local angling lore, much of it of his own making. My first memories of shad are from this same stretch of shoreline just upstream from the Cove. That’s where the fascination began. It was no different for Josh Cohn (photo below). As a boy, Josh encountered Gordon on his perch soon after he discovered shad fishing, or was it the other way around? He grew up in the Palisades neighborhood, like my kids and myself, and developed an enthusiasm for fishing increasingly rare today. Sixty years from now, he may have filled Gordon’s shoes. Josh attended Charleston College “for the fishing” but graduated last year and is back home along his beloved Potomac. He’s an avid fly fisherman and now works for Orvis in Bethesda. On Tuesday afternoon Josh caught his first American shad, a small buck, and the first taken on a fly rod this year. It’s finally beginning to feel like spring at Fletcher’s Cove. The spring peepers were silent during the cold snap but resumed their chattering over the last few nights. Ospreys now hover over the river while cormorants gather their forces. Wednesday’s weather brought light showers, a welcome rise in temperature and no wind chill. There were happy faces on the Fletcher’s dock and stories of a dozen or two hickory shad. Early season striped bass–the jumbo class–stirred up as much excitement as shad. Today, the river will be rising but fishable before high water arrives to make us wait again. Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have the Nats opener on the radio at the tackle shop. The preseason is over. Mark Binsted Sign Up Join Us! The National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders and CCA Maryland's Greater Washington Chapter are proud to present the first annual Tidal Potomac Slam fishing tournament. A multi-week event, compete for great prizes and bragging rights, while helping to support Friends of Fletcher’s Cove in its quest to restore the Cove and protect this unique urban fishing resource for generations to come. Sponsored by Sweetwater Brewing, RepYourWater, Costa Sunglasses, District Angling and Engel Coolers, the Potomac River Slam is a celebration of the arrival of Spring and all of the migratory species that return each year to our Nation’s River! So join the fun and get in on this year’s Shadness Madness! Visit our website |
The rowboat fleet was quickly launched on Monday afternoon when the best high tide in weeks filled Fletcher’s Cove. The Boathouse commenced rentals on Wednesday morning and is now fully open for business. A tradition dating back to the late 1800’s, when the Fletcher family first offered Washingtonians access to our great Potomac River fishery, continues for another season. Shad anglers have been chomping at the bit but know that disappointment is always just around the corner. It is expected that rainfall and snowmelt in the watershed will make river conditions unsuitable for boat rentals this weekend.
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The first schools of shad to arrive this year encountered the cold waters of an unusually bitter March and were slow to stir. However, shore anglers up and down the river began to see improvement last weekend, especially in the afternoon when water temperatures spiked. Several decent catches of hickory shad were reported on Monday, and by Tuesday a few American shad appeared, including a roe landed by Cole Heflin and his dad at Walker’s Point. That’s early for American shad but apparently not early enough to be the first.
Only three days after the initial hickory shad catch and nearly two weeks before Cole's catch, Mike Lester caught the first American shad that we know about. He kept us in the dark until he stopped by the shop this week, so naturally we gave him a hard time. On the afternoon of March 15, Mike took advantage of a rare warm day and walked up to the Warning Rock area to throw his usual inline sinker/single dart rig. Not expecting much with the water so cold, he was surprised when an American shad surfaced at the end of his line. He fumbled around for his phone and couldn’t find it quickly enough to take a picture. So let’s also give credit to the very excited young Cole for the first documented American shad, seen in the photo we received promptly by text.
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On Tuesday I fished next to Gordon Leisch for the first time in awhile. The former Navy pilot and Interior Department official caught his first American shad of the year and plenty of hickories, including a double-header. It’s inspiring to watch Gordon on Gordon’s Rock, the smallest of the named rocks but prominent in local angling lore, much of it of his own making. My first memories of shad are from this same stretch of shoreline just upstream from the Cove. That’s where the fascination began.
It was no different for Josh Cohn (photo below). As a boy, Josh encountered Gordon on his perch soon after he discovered shad fishing, or was it the other way around? He grew up in the Palisades neighborhood, like my kids and myself, and developed an enthusiasm for fishing increasingly rare today. Sixty years from now, he may have filled Gordon’s shoes. Josh attended Charleston College “for the fishing” but graduated last year and is back home along his beloved Potomac. He’s an avid fly fisherman and now works for Orvis in Bethesda. On Tuesday afternoon Josh caught his first American shad, a small buck, and the first taken on a fly rod this year.
It’s finally beginning to feel like spring at Fletcher’s Cove. The spring peepers were silent during the cold snap but resumed their chattering over the last few nights. Ospreys now hover over the river while cormorants gather their forces. Wednesday’s weather brought light showers, a welcome rise in temperature and no wind chill. There were happy faces on the Fletcher’s dock and stories of a dozen or two hickory shad. Early season striped bass–the jumbo class–stirred up as much excitement as shad. Today, the river will be rising but fishable before high water arrives to make us wait again. Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have the Nats opener on the radio at the tackle shop. The preseason is over.
Mark Binsted
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The National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders and CCA Maryland's Greater Washington Chapter are proud to present the first annual Tidal Potomac Slam fishing tournament. A multi-week event, compete for great prizes and bragging rights, while helping to support Friends of Fletcher’s Cove in its quest to restore the Cove and protect this unique urban fishing resource for generations to come.
Sponsored by Sweetwater Brewing, RepYourWater, Costa Sunglasses, District Angling and Engel Coolers, the Potomac River Slam is a celebration of the arrival of Spring and all of the migratory species that return each year to our Nation’s River! So join the fun and get in on this year’s Shadness Madness!
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