| NCC-TU Presents The 2018 Shad Report No. 3 Trying Patience April 8, 2018 Hickory shad fishing began to take off after our last report, but not when most anglers were free to fish. The last three weekend days, Easter included, have come and gone with river levels too high for boat rentals at Fletcher’s Cove. Recently, shore fishing was stalled by high turbidity and strong wind gusts. Mother Nature has been trying our patience this spring, but things are looking up. This morning, boats were made available again, and three new craft will join the fleet on Tuesday. The Potomac is clearing and should warm quickly in the April sun. Seasonable weather will come. The first wave of high water was quite manageable because snowmelt doesn’t raise turbidity like rainfall. Fishing from the shore was excellent up at Gordon’s Rock for a full week until Wednesday afternoon, at least during the moving tides. Good reports flowed into the Boathouse shop, stories of gold spoons, orange darts and fat roes. Chapter member Lois Boland took them on “every cast” for two hours and looked worn out. Then the Potomac rose rapidly from another round of snow and rain high in the watershed. This time it got muddy. On Wednesday morning, with the river beginning to take on color, our board member Sandy Burk and Palisades roofer David Gwynn ended up catching shad next to each other at Gordon’s Rock. Their happy conversation was as much a part of the season as the cormorants staring back. Sandy and David both became obsessed with fishing as teenagers living near the Potomac, and have developed their talent ever since. David says he briefly quit the hobby in his twenties to chase women. He didn’t end up with one but has a bass boat and unmatched knowledge of the river. As for Sandy, the opposite sex never got in the way of wetting a line or writing a book about the American shad restoration. But she gave us a scare last year when she missed the entire run. Now she’s making up for lost time–by shore, kayak or rowboat–so watch out! Last Monday shore anglers had plenty of company down near their feet. Herring frolicked along the rocky shoreline, a sight I haven’t seen much since I was a kid. An excited Mike Bailey phoned in a description of the phenomenon as seen from his rowboat in the early morning, and he even caught a few. Anadromous river herring, the smaller cousins of shad, are prolific spawners and a critical component of the food chain. They have been protected to restore a natural balance in the ocean and estuary. The moratorium appears to be working. Gwynn made an interesting discovery on Thursday. That morning, he took his boat out on the river near the airport in search of striped bass, but his depth finder revealed something different over on the DC side, at the mouth of the Anacostia. On an eleven-foot deep ledge, where it drops off to twenty-six feet, a large school of mystery fish appeared. Sending down a tiny dart and reeling in a large roe identified them as American shad. A good portion of the American shad run never reaches our fishing grounds upstream of Key Bridge. George Washington operated a very successful shad fishing business out of Mount Vernon, and fish are still collected near there for Mid-Atlantic restoration efforts. If any of our readers target shad downriver, or on the Anacostia, we’d love to hear about it. We hope those airport shad were merely holding in the high water until making their connection to Fletcher’s Cove this week. Greg Cook and Marc Rogers already caught eight of them from a boat ten days ago, including a double. Shore anglers were getting a few mixed in with the hickories before the brown water arrived. If water temperatures finally rise to the mid-fifties later this week, while river flow returns to normal, the American shad run should begin to blossom. 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 |
Hickory shad fishing began to take off after our last report, but not when most anglers were free to fish. The last three weekend days, Easter included, have come and gone with river levels too high for boat rentals at Fletcher’s Cove. Recently, shore fishing was stalled by high turbidity and strong wind gusts. Mother Nature has been trying our patience this spring, but things are looking up. This morning, boats were made available again, and three new craft will join the fleet on Tuesday. The Potomac is clearing and should warm quickly in the April sun. Seasonable weather will come. | |
The first wave of high water was quite manageable because snowmelt doesn’t raise turbidity like rainfall. Fishing from the shore was excellent up at Gordon’s Rock for a full week until Wednesday afternoon, at least during the moving tides. Good reports flowed into the Boathouse shop, stories of gold spoons, orange darts and fat roes. Chapter member Lois Boland took them on “every cast” for two hours and looked worn out. Then the Potomac rose rapidly from another round of snow and rain high in the watershed. This time it got muddy. | |
On Wednesday morning, with the river beginning to take on color, our board member Sandy Burk and Palisades roofer David Gwynn ended up catching shad next to each other at Gordon’s Rock. Their happy conversation was as much a part of the season as the cormorants staring back. Sandy and David both became obsessed with fishing as teenagers living near the Potomac, and have developed their talent ever since. David says he briefly quit the hobby in his twenties to chase women. He didn’t end up with one but has a bass boat and unmatched knowledge of the river. As for Sandy, the opposite sex never got in the way of wetting a line or writing a book about the American shad restoration. But she gave us a scare last year when she missed the entire run. Now she’s making up for lost time–by shore, kayak or rowboat–so watch out! | |
Last Monday shore anglers had plenty of company down near their feet. Herring frolicked along the rocky shoreline, a sight I haven’t seen much since I was a kid. An excited Mike Bailey phoned in a description of the phenomenon as seen from his rowboat in the early morning, and he even caught a few. Anadromous river herring, the smaller cousins of shad, are prolific spawners and a critical component of the food chain. They have been protected to restore a natural balance in the ocean and estuary. The moratorium appears to be working.
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Gwynn made an interesting discovery on Thursday. That morning, he took his boat out on the river near the airport in search of striped bass, but his depth finder revealed something different over on the DC side, at the mouth of the Anacostia. On an eleven-foot deep ledge, where it drops off to twenty-six feet, a large school of mystery fish appeared. Sending down a tiny dart and reeling in a large roe identified them as American shad. A good portion of the American shad run never reaches our fishing grounds upstream of Key Bridge. George Washington operated a very successful shad fishing business out of Mount Vernon, and fish are still collected near there for Mid-Atlantic restoration efforts. If any of our readers target shad downriver, or on the Anacostia, we’d love to hear about it. | |
We hope those airport shad were merely holding in the high water until making their connection to Fletcher’s Cove this week. Greg Cook and Marc Rogers already caught eight of them from a boat ten days ago, including a double. Shore anglers were getting a few mixed in with the hickories before the brown water arrived. If water temperatures finally rise to the mid-fifties later this week, while river flow returns to normal, the American shad run should begin to blossom. | |
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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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