| NCC-TU Presents The 2018 Shad Report No. 4 Class Reunion April 22, 2018 Last weekend, a brief heat wave and subsequent spike in water temperature produced some of the best American shad fishing ever seen at Fletcher’s Cove. Then, on Sunday night, heavy rain arrived throughout the Potomac watershed and the season was put on pause once again. The river raged all week and only now is returning to normal. Water clarity remains poor and the temperature is back down again. Boats rentals finally resumed at Fletcher’s Cove this morning and a few hickory shad catches were reported from boat and shore. We’ll soon find out how the run rebounds. Jim Cummins says this latest freshet will actually help the Potomac shad run. “The fish hold as the river rises, as it takes too much precious energy to swim upstream, but as soon as the river starts settling back they will push upstream in mass. So be prepared for a bunch of new fish at Fletcher's Cove.” Another piece of wisdom from Jim interests me now. You will recall that for our Shad Night gathering in February, Jim sent along some intriguing data regarding the 2015 American shad run. The annual Maryland DNR juvenile American shad survey, research that has been undertaken since 1959, had revealed unprecedented spawning success that year. It was literally off the charts, requiring Jim to resize his bar graph to display the 50% improvement over any previous year (see bottom). He cited this information and predicted an impressive shad run in 2018, anchored by a sizeable return of three-year old fish. We now know that he was right. Very early on Friday the 13th, I did my part to welcome back this Class of 2015. There was to be no bad luck, just plenty of fish behaving badly. American shad pounded my rod for two extraordinary hours like they owned the river, and perhaps they did. It was goose bump inducing, stupefying fly fishing. The fish were extremely energetic, making up for their modest size with youthful vigor. One roe shad caught a glimpse of me from fifteen feet out and bolted upstream, bonefish-like, twenty feet past my bow, then completed a full circle to the other side of the boat, before spooling line once again. Another shad, a feisty buck, created quite a commotion deep in the hole, prompting a stunned roe to leap two feet out of the water, some five feet away from my line. That girl wasn’t ready yet! For a few seconds it was unclear which fish was mine. It was a class reunion not to be missed. That same day, Chapter member John Kuriawa and his buddy Captain Phil, fishing above Walker’s Point, hauled in prodigious numbers of shad on light spinning gear, including 36 Americans. In the afternoon, returning boaters were talking about all the shad Jim Stables was taking from his kayak, anchored right where the legendary Mike Alper likes to fish. By Saturday, it was 80 degrees and the American shad bite was hot all over the river. Everyone lucky enough to snag a boat caught fish. Fly fishing was excellent and members of the Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders were well represented. The photos above were posted on Instagram, the perfect app for fishing updates, so I’m told. Shown clockwise from top left, are Douglas Romaine, Tom Perkins, Scott Stankus and Dalton Terrell. All four are holding nice examples from the Class of 2015. The weather on Sunday deteriorated but shad fishing reached a crescendo. As the water temperature soared past sixty degrees, some older and larger roes began to party with the raucous 2015 class. Call them shad cougars. Kuriawa’s photo of a hefty one, seen below, is also notable for the reappearance of some serious outerwear since Friday and Saturday. He and his pal landed at least 55 Americans and he later emailed: “Well, I can honestly say I never really slayed the ladies, but today we did just that; we slayed some of the prettiest and meanest roe shad in the river, atop what undoubtedly ranks as one of the world's best spring fishing holes. With redbuds finally showing their pink and purple hues road and riverside among budding oaks, maples and sycamores, we repeatedly bore witness to the olive-backed queen alosines emerging from the depths, often after impressive runs upriver, and many times paired up with perhaps a future spawning mate.” Several anglers told me that the day was an all-American affair, with few hickory shad to be found. Brian Cassidy withstood the cold wind and periodic drizzle to have his best day ever, with at least twenty strong Americans landed on the fly. Stables was back in his kayak groove and then some. He later reported: “I have fished the cove for over 30 years...Today rainy, a little cold with moderate winds; I thought I might take the day off from fishing. But crazy as I am about shad I decided to go. First cast hit double whites and it went from there. I stopped counting at 65 fish at about 4pm...Now that’s all nice but here is the kicker: All day I only caught 9-10 hickories–the rest were big boy Americans. It was amazing. There were some smaller ones but most were hefty and 7 American doubles. Crazy fight.” It happened that professional photographer David Hills was on the river and he thoroughly photographed the memorable Sunday fishing. You can see the results posted online in two index pages, from which you can advance through the high-resolution images, including bird’s eye views from the GW Parkway. There are a few gems in the collection, but it is the entirety that captures the activity on the river so well. It must have been out of sheer luck that David chose to come that day, because there’s no guarantee that we’ll have a better one. David permitted me to include this close-up shot of a beautiful roe from the Class of 2015, seen below. We’d like to know the identity of the lucky angler in blue—please send us an email! Find out more about David at his website, www.FishyPictures.com . We’ll keep up with him in a future report. When you return to Fletcher’s Cove in the coming days, be sure to thank the Boathouse staff for their strenuous efforts to save the dock during last week’s flood. Alex, Dan, Chris and Faisal battled driftwood and currents to protect our favorite launching pad to great fishing. There was no heavy machinery, just brute force. Yes, there are too few rowboats this year and the wait lists are long. Had we lost the dock, there would be no rental boat access at all. Please be aware that next Friday will be a difficult day to get a boat at Fletcher’s. Friends of Fletcher’s Cove, Anacostia Watershed Society, Potomac Riverkeeper Network and DC Fisheries and Wildlife are co-sponsoring an event for government stakeholders to highlight the many natural wonders of the Nation’s River, especially our important fishery. Volunteer fishing guides will secure half of the rowboats early in the morning for event use. After visiting the Aquatic Resources Education Center on the Anacostia and traveling by skiff up the Potomac, guests will be encouraged to experience the great shad fishing at Fletcher’s Cove and perhaps will see firsthand the increasingly dire public access problem many of us have been working to solve. Finally, consider this story from Duncan McGrath. Many of you know that Duncan is a kayaking, rafting and fish catching machine, full of talent and even a little nuts. On Monday morning, during the peak of local flash flooding, Duncan paddled out below the Little Falls Dam en route to whitewater kayaking on the then raging Pimmit Run. But first, he stopped to fish for smallmouth from the Virginia shore within reach of the fishway that Jim Cummins was instrumental in constructing. The water was already chocolate brown, so a black tube was the obvious choice for smallmouth bass. Bouncing it at the base of the fishway, he soon stuck a 26” long specimen that wasn’t a bass. A truly remarkable American shad, larger than most of us will ever experience, had seen the lure and taken it. Duncan never fishes for American shad. He released the roe promptly and carefully, and from the impression she left, he may have been hooked as well. 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 Tidal Potomac 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 |
Last weekend, a brief heat wave and subsequent spike in water temperature produced some of the best American shad fishing ever seen at Fletcher’s Cove. Then, on Sunday night, heavy rain arrived throughout the Potomac watershed and the season was put on pause once again. The river raged all week and only now is returning to normal. Water clarity remains poor and the temperature is back down again. Boats rentals finally resumed at Fletcher’s Cove this morning and a few hickory shad catches were reported from boat and shore. We’ll soon find out how the run rebounds. | |
Jim Cummins says this latest freshet will actually help the Potomac shad run. “The fish hold as the river rises, as it takes too much precious energy to swim upstream, but as soon as the river starts settling back they will push upstream in mass. So be prepared for a bunch of new fish at Fletcher's Cove.” Another piece of wisdom from Jim interests me now. You will recall that for our Shad Night gathering in February, Jim sent along some intriguing data regarding the 2015 American shad run. The annual Maryland DNR juvenile American shad survey, research that has been undertaken since 1959, had revealed unprecedented spawning success that year. It was literally off the charts, requiring Jim to resize his bar graph to display the 50% improvement over any previous year (see bottom). He cited this information and predicted an impressive shad run in 2018, anchored by a sizeable return of three-year old fish. We now know that he was right. | |
Very early on Friday the 13th, I did my part to welcome back this Class of 2015. There was to be no bad luck, just plenty of fish behaving badly. American shad pounded my rod for two extraordinary hours like they owned the river, and perhaps they did. It was goose bump inducing, stupefying fly fishing. The fish were extremely energetic, making up for their modest size with youthful vigor. One roe shad caught a glimpse of me from fifteen feet out and bolted upstream, bonefish-like, twenty feet past my bow, then completed a full circle to the other side of the boat, before spooling line once again. Another shad, a feisty buck, created quite a commotion deep in the hole, prompting a stunned roe to leap two feet out of the water, some five feet away from my line. That girl wasn’t ready yet! For a few seconds it was unclear which fish was mine. | |
It was a class reunion not to be missed. That same day, Chapter member John Kuriawa and his buddy Captain Phil, fishing above Walker’s Point, hauled in prodigious numbers of shad on light spinning gear, including 36 Americans. In the afternoon, returning boaters were talking about all the shad Jim Stables was taking from his kayak, anchored right where the legendary Mike Alper likes to fish. By Saturday, it was 80 degrees and the American shad bite was hot all over the river. Everyone lucky enough to snag a boat caught fish. Fly fishing was excellent and members of the Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders were well represented. The photos above were posted on Instagram, the perfect app for fishing updates, so I’m told. Shown clockwise from top left, are Douglas Romaine, Tom Perkins, Scott Stankus and Dalton Terrell. All four are holding nice examples from the Class of 2015. | |
The weather on Sunday deteriorated but shad fishing reached a crescendo. As the water temperature soared past sixty degrees, some older and larger roes began to party with the raucous 2015 class. Call them shad cougars. Kuriawa’s photo of a hefty one, seen below, is also notable for the reappearance of some serious outerwear since Friday and Saturday. He and his pal landed at least 55 Americans and he later emailed: “Well, I can honestly say I never really slayed the ladies, but today we did just that; we slayed some of the prettiest and meanest roe shad in the river, atop what undoubtedly ranks as one of the world's best spring fishing holes. With redbuds finally showing their pink and purple hues road and riverside among budding oaks, maples and sycamores, we repeatedly bore witness to the olive-backed queen alosines emerging from the depths, often after impressive runs upriver, and many times paired up with perhaps a future spawning mate.” | |
Several anglers told me that the day was an all-American affair, with few hickory shad to be found. Brian Cassidy withstood the cold wind and periodic drizzle to have his best day ever, with at least twenty strong Americans landed on the fly. Stables was back in his kayak groove and then some. He later reported: “I have fished the cove for over 30 years...Today rainy, a little cold with moderate winds; I thought I might take the day off from fishing. But crazy as I am about shad I decided to go. First cast hit double whites and it went from there. I stopped counting at 65 fish at about 4pm...Now that’s all nice but here is the kicker: All day I only caught 9-10 hickories–the rest were big boy Americans. It was amazing. There were some smaller ones but most were hefty and 7 American doubles. Crazy fight.” | |
It happened that professional photographer David Hills was on the river and he thoroughly photographed the memorable Sunday fishing. You can see the results posted online in two index pages, from which you can advance through the high-resolution images, including bird’s eye views from the GW Parkway. There are a few gems in the collection, but it is the entirety that captures the activity on the river so well. It must have been out of sheer luck that David chose to come that day, because there’s no guarantee that we’ll have a better one. David permitted me to include this close-up shot of a beautiful roe from the Class of 2015, seen below. We’d like to know the identity of the lucky angler in blue—please send us an email! Find out more about David at his website, www.FishyPictures.com. We’ll keep up with him in a future report. | |
When you return to Fletcher’s Cove in the coming days, be sure to thank the Boathouse staff for their strenuous efforts to save the dock during last week’s flood. Alex, Dan, Chris and Faisal battled driftwood and currents to protect our favorite launching pad to great fishing. There was no heavy machinery, just brute force. Yes, there are too few rowboats this year and the wait lists are long. Had we lost the dock, there would be no rental boat access at all. | |
Please be aware that next Friday will be a difficult day to get a boat at Fletcher’s. Friends of Fletcher’s Cove, Anacostia Watershed Society, Potomac Riverkeeper Network and DC Fisheries and Wildlife are co-sponsoring an event for government stakeholders to highlight the many natural wonders of the Nation’s River, especially our important fishery. Volunteer fishing guides will secure half of the rowboats early in the morning for event use. After visiting the Aquatic Resources Education Center on the Anacostia and traveling by skiff up the Potomac, guests will be encouraged to experience the great shad fishing at Fletcher’s Cove and perhaps will see firsthand the increasingly dire public access problem many of us have been working to solve. | |
Finally, consider this story from Duncan McGrath. Many of you know that Duncan is a kayaking, rafting and fish catching machine, full of talent and even a little nuts. On Monday morning, during the peak of local flash flooding, Duncan paddled out below the Little Falls Dam en route to whitewater kayaking on the then raging Pimmit Run. But first, he stopped to fish for smallmouth from the Virginia shore within reach of the fishway that Jim Cummins was instrumental in constructing. The water was already chocolate brown, so a black tube was the obvious choice for smallmouth bass. Bouncing it at the base of the fishway, he soon stuck a 26” long specimen that wasn’t a bass. A truly remarkable American shad, larger than most of us will ever experience, had seen the lure and taken it. Duncan never fishes for American shad. He released the roe promptly and carefully, and from the impression she left, he may have been hooked as well. | |
|
|
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 Tidal Potomac 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!
| |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
