| NCC-TU Presents The 2021 Shad Report No. 4 "I Come Back" April 9 , 2021 Last week I helped a man from Poland set up his tackle for shad fishing. He had come to the Boathouse on a mission, with questions meticulously prepared and his cell phone translator ready. Marcin Zacze returned to the river this week and proudly exclaimed, “I come back!” That cell phone was out again but this time open to a photo (below) of a beautiful hickory shad caught from shore right after we met. I don’t know much about Zacze but his fishing smarts shine right through the language barrier. He thanked me and bought three more packs of our tiniest shad darts. If shad could talk they’d be saying the same thing this week, in glorious surround sound. They come back, indeed. Hickory shad are thick up and down the river and the run seems headed for an early peak. One angler casting at the top of Warning Cove was closing in on two hundred fish when he chatted with a passerby who relayed the story. It would be a personal record. Jimmy Stables was out there for eight hours on Wednesday, laying low in his sit-in kayak and reaching for a hundred, American shad included. We've taken to calling him "Kayak Jim." This is about the stage in the run where I stop highlighting the crazy numbers. Let’s just say that the fishing is outstanding but the experience is even better. Fish counting is a developed skill we all work on. Hickory shad present unusual challenges in the proper use of exaggeration. When young Braden Hickox came by to get more darts it was fun to observe the formative stage. I was also about 13 when my Mom let me walk the river bank with a friend or brother, not to mention our German Shepherd. Braden excitedly told me about catching thirty hickories in that nice eddy just below Chain Bridge. When I said I’d put him in the Shad Report he backpedaled quickly: “It was really about ten,” he corrected. I like this kid. Our favorite number at Fletcher’s Cove is the first one. With so many newcomers coming to the river after last year’s pandemic shutdown, we keep hearing about first shad. A few people have waved us over to share a photo and offer thanks for helping. Catching shad offers a link to the natural world easy to feel, harder to explain. Lisa Shaupp (above) sometimes comes along to Gordon's Rock and watches her husband from the bank with their dog. Enough of that: This week she finally wetted a line and caught her first hickory. Her smile says it all. There are plenty of kids coming down to Fletcher’s with their parents. It’s a great departure from laptop schooling. Fourth grader Emerson Smith Acree is also lucky enough to have been trained by Gordon Leisch, he of the famous rock, back when he was in preschool. Now he’s tight with the Boathouse manager. Yesterday, Emerson managed to squeeze in an hour on the water while Mom worked remotely at the picnic table. Coach Binsted took the selfie above of a happy double-up, buck and roe. Looks like Emerson outfished his guide. Now to the big boys. Better make that big girls, as in female American shad. Large roes have made a splash this week, the bite triggered by five days of seventy-degree weather since Easter. Water temperatures are now in the lower sixties after the big dip last week. Adrenaline is also soaring. There’s nothing like that deep hookup, “ the rock that moved ” as Bob Smith said last year, often followed by a tour of the river and a side trip under your boat. We first found them down near Walker’s Point, then heard from Chapter luminary Tom Mann about good American catches halfway down. Chris Wood, TU's energetic leader, got in on the action each morning after biking over on his way to work. He let me try out his beautiful new Loop fly rod with my reel and it promptly hooked up with several strong-pulling Americans. I’m a fan. Mann returned yesterday with a friend and joined a chorus of anglers singing praises about the familiar current seams straight out from the dock. This run is maturing quickly. Sandy Burk (above) was there and tussled with a roe just a few minutes after dropping anchor. Her trademark broken drag sounded not quite so annoying as we remembered from pre-Covid days. Mike Bailey knew the screeching would start and offered only gentle teasing from one boat over. In fact, he insisted on re-rigging Burk’s tandem darts after observing a deformity in her three-way swivel. The photo above was actually taken downriver. It doesn’t matter, as Burk catches American shad everywhere. She wrote a book about them. Don’t forget the Gordon’s Rock shoreline. While hickory shad still dominate the catches there, Mike Lester dialed into quite a few American shad yesterday, fat roes included. Perhaps his single-dart rigs tied with inline sinkers cut through the strong SE wind a little better, got down a little faster. Perhaps Lester just knows how to fish. He drives up the Potomac from Belle Haven at least twice a week and wears his rubber boots for low tide situations. We affectionately call him “the man with the white hat,” remembering the great Curious George books. You can’t miss him and he’ll be happy to engage in conversation. Unfortunately, we heard about an ugly incident up at Gordon’s the other day, an unnecessary argument about water rights. The hot hickory shad bite draws increasing numbers of boaters to the spot and some are getting too close to the shore casters. The Boathouse expects customers to anchor beyond casting range when people are fishing from shore. Private craft are another matter but we can all agree that conflict is something we seek to escape on the river. Try following this wise advice from John Rice, he of the green outrigger canoe: Shout out “give me your best cast,” then drop anchor accordingly. Ignoring reasonable requests or hurling obscenities will ruin the experience for everyone. Do not hesitate to walk past Gordon’s Rock and look upstream. When north winds combine with this year's low flow and low tide, you might be pleasantly surprised by the new spots that open up. We heard separately from Jim Malone and Tom Anderson about a land bridge to the small island just below the catfish beach. It’s called Sunken Island and is usually just that. Most of us old-timers know it as a productive place to park a boat back in the day. Josh Cohn and other young boaters have recently rediscovered the hole. There’s much more to go over but I’ve got to leave time for field work. You know, fishing. With no big storms in sight and the river flow still well below normal, I’m starting to wonder if shad will spawn quickly and depart early this year. The current spell of light rain should recharge the Potomac and help keep shad in the Cove area. The dogwoods now opening signal more waves of American shad to come. For the short term, fishing will only get better. Mark Binsted NCC-TU Visit our website |
Last week I helped a man from Poland set up his tackle for shad fishing. He had come to the Boathouse on a mission, with questions meticulously prepared and his cell phone translator ready. Marcin Zacze returned to the river this week and proudly exclaimed, “I come back!” That cell phone was out again but this time open to a photo (below) of a beautiful hickory shad caught from shore right after we met. I don’t know much about Zacze but his fishing smarts shine right through the language barrier. He thanked me and bought three more packs of our tiniest shad darts. | |
If shad could talk they’d be saying the same thing this week, in glorious surround sound. They come back, indeed. Hickory shad are thick up and down the river and the run seems headed for an early peak. One angler casting at the top of Warning Cove was closing in on two hundred fish when he chatted with a passerby who relayed the story. It would be a personal record. Jimmy Stables was out there for eight hours on Wednesday, laying low in his sit-in kayak and reaching for a hundred, American shad included. We've taken to calling him "Kayak Jim." This is about the stage in the run where I stop highlighting the crazy numbers. Let’s just say that the fishing is outstanding but the experience is even better. | |
Fish counting is a developed skill we all work on. Hickory shad present unusual challenges in the proper use of exaggeration. When young Braden Hickox came by to get more darts it was fun to observe the formative stage. I was also about 13 when my Mom let me walk the river bank with a friend or brother, not to mention our German Shepherd. Braden excitedly told me about catching thirty hickories in that nice eddy just below Chain Bridge. When I said I’d put him in the Shad Report he backpedaled quickly: “It was really about ten,” he corrected. I like this kid. | |
Our favorite number at Fletcher’s Cove is the first one. With so many newcomers coming to the river after last year’s pandemic shutdown, we keep hearing about first shad. A few people have waved us over to share a photo and offer thanks for helping. Catching shad offers a link to the natural world easy to feel, harder to explain. Lisa Shaupp (above) sometimes comes along to Gordon's Rock and watches her husband from the bank with their dog. Enough of that: This week she finally wetted a line and caught her first hickory. Her smile says it all. | |
There are plenty of kids coming down to Fletcher’s with their parents. It’s a great departure from laptop schooling. Fourth grader Emerson Smith Acree is also lucky enough to have been trained by Gordon Leisch, he of the famous rock, back when he was in preschool. Now he’s tight with the Boathouse manager. Yesterday, Emerson managed to squeeze in an hour on the water while Mom worked remotely at the picnic table. Coach Binsted took the selfie above of a happy double-up, buck and roe. Looks like Emerson outfished his guide. | |
Now to the big boys. Better make that big girls, as in female American shad. Large roes have made a splash this week, the bite triggered by five days of seventy-degree weather since Easter. Water temperatures are now in the lower sixties after the big dip last week. Adrenaline is also soaring. There’s nothing like that deep hookup, “the rock that moved” as Bob Smith said last year, often followed by a tour of the river and a side trip under your boat. We first found them down near Walker’s Point, then heard from Chapter luminary Tom Mann about good American catches halfway down. Chris Wood, TU's energetic leader, got in on the action each morning after biking over on his way to work. He let me try out his beautiful new Loop fly rod with my reel and it promptly hooked up with several strong-pulling Americans. I’m a fan. Mann returned yesterday with a friend and joined a chorus of anglers singing praises about the familiar current seams straight out from the dock. This run is maturing quickly. | |
Sandy Burk (above) was there and tussled with a roe just a few minutes after dropping anchor. Her trademark broken drag sounded not quite so annoying as we remembered from pre-Covid days. Mike Bailey knew the screeching would start and offered only gentle teasing from one boat over. In fact, he insisted on re-rigging Burk’s tandem darts after observing a deformity in her three-way swivel. The photo above was actually taken downriver. It doesn’t matter, as Burk catches American shad everywhere. She wrote a book about them. | |
Don’t forget the Gordon’s Rock shoreline. While hickory shad still dominate the catches there, Mike Lester dialed into quite a few American shad yesterday, fat roes included. Perhaps his single-dart rigs tied with inline sinkers cut through the strong SE wind a little better, got down a little faster. Perhaps Lester just knows how to fish. He drives up the Potomac from Belle Haven at least twice a week and wears his rubber boots for low tide situations. We affectionately call him “the man with the white hat,” remembering the great Curious George books. You can’t miss him and he’ll be happy to engage in conversation. | |
Unfortunately, we heard about an ugly incident up at Gordon’s the other day, an unnecessary argument about water rights. The hot hickory shad bite draws increasing numbers of boaters to the spot and some are getting too close to the shore casters. The Boathouse expects customers to anchor beyond casting range when people are fishing from shore. Private craft are another matter but we can all agree that conflict is something we seek to escape on the river. Try following this wise advice from John Rice, he of the green outrigger canoe: Shout out “give me your best cast,” then drop anchor accordingly. Ignoring reasonable requests or hurling obscenities will ruin the experience for everyone. | |
Do not hesitate to walk past Gordon’s Rock and look upstream. When north winds combine with this year's low flow and low tide, you might be pleasantly surprised by the new spots that open up. We heard separately from Jim Malone and Tom Anderson about a land bridge to the small island just below the catfish beach. It’s called Sunken Island and is usually just that. Most of us old-timers know it as a productive place to park a boat back in the day. Josh Cohn and other young boaters have recently rediscovered the hole. | |
There’s much more to go over but I’ve got to leave time for field work. You know, fishing. With no big storms in sight and the river flow still well below normal, I’m starting to wonder if shad will spawn quickly and depart early this year. The current spell of light rain should recharge the Potomac and help keep shad in the Cove area. The dogwoods now opening signal more waves of American shad to come. For the short term, fishing will only get better. | |
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