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Fly Fishing For American Shad

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Walleyemaster413

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9 hours ago, Walleyemaster413 said:

Ive always wanted to fly fish for shad but I don't know the rig to do it. Im looking for something for the Connecticut River and its tributary's.  

So it's really easy ... easy / peasy.

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Start with your favorite fly rod 5wt and up. I'm fishing a 10ft 6wt Sage a lot because I'm fishing for Stripers at the same time. We get mostly all Hickory Shad in the Rappahannock River in Virginia ... the bigger American Shad have not taken hold here well (like they are prevalent in the Delaware river). So a 6 weight is a good choice for bigger fish (18 to 28 inches). A mono-leader of 8 feet with a 15lbs test tippet should make for quick catch & release in your local river (pulling fish against moving water).

 

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For fly line ... use what works best for you. I prefer fly line the behaves well in cold water (doesn't kink up as much / remains supple) ... I've been using RIO Outbound Short 6wt on my Sage XP 6101 / 10ft 6wt. It's a front head heavy cold water intermediate line. But you could use a floating line with a Type 3 sink tip. Again ... what works best for you casting wise ... fishing wise you want to get your fly about 3 feet deep ... even though they often bite up top.

 

Shad Candy

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For flies to use .... small Clouser Minnows are a great choice and variations there of. But my secret weapon / fly of choice is a small (size 2 hook) Surf Candy ... the Shad will crush them and they fish well. The Shad are eating small fry / creek chub minnows in my river and the mini-Surf Candies match the hatch, so to speak.

 

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I hope this helps orient you to Shad fishing. When the run is hot fishing for Shad really hones your fly fishing skills from casting to catching ... they are a hoot to catch on light tackle. And the fly rod is the best / most effective way to fish for them. One final note ... while fishing freshwater (moving water) I always use a stripping basket. A funky "style" to most trout fishermen, I know ... but a casting (line management) necessity all the same.

 

Good Luck Shad fishing!!

RockfishOn!! :cool:

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I've caught a handful over the years will striper fishing in the spring/early summer.  Always on small clousers.  Everything in the previous post is great advice.  The only thing I would add is that if you are not use to open water fly fishing you will find it easier to cast with a 7wt rod then a 5wt or 6wt assuming you have rod choices already.  

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I haven't fished for them in a few years.  Used either my 5 wgt or 6 wgt for them.  8 to 10 foot leader, 10# test.   Depending where I was fishing, either a sinking line or a floating line. My flies similar to the ones with dumbbell eyes that KironaFly posted.  Bodies tied with sparkle chenille or other flashy material, tail either marabou or buck tail mixed with flash, and heavier dumbbells. With the sinking line I also fished shad spoons.  I was fishing the Delaware River, above the tidal section.  American Shad don't feed on their spawning run.  They hit the fly out of irritation or reaction.  The reason for the flashy flies.  They tend to follow the main channels and they stay close to the bottom.  So I needed to get my fly down as much as 15 feet to get in their strike range.  If you're not losing flies, you're not in the strike zone of the shad.  A lot of fishing in the middle section of the river is done from boats.   You can wade fish with care.  Once you get above Hancock, NY and then into the east and west branches it's easier wade fishing water is shallower and you can catch them on dry flies, at times. 

 I'm not familiar with the Connecticut River.  The only time I've seen it is when I followed the White River in VT down to where it enters the Connecticut.  I know it's got a few dams on it.  If you can access below the dams they might be good spots to try.  Assuming the dams have fish ladders then the further upstream you can get the more likely you are to catch a shad.You'd have to check locally to see if any of the tributaries have shad runs.  The state of PA has spent years trying to reestablish the shad runs in the tributaries of the Delaware.  They're had some success.  

 Good luck.  Shad are a blast on a fly rod.

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2 hours ago, Philly said:

I haven't fished for them in a few years.  Used either my 5 wgt or 6 wgt for them.  8 to 10 foot leader, 10# test.   Depending where I was fishing, either a sinking line or a floating line. My flies similar to the ones with dumbbell eyes that KironaFly posted.  Bodies tied with sparkle chenille or other flashy material, tail either marabou or buck tail mixed with flash, and heavier dumbbells. With the sinking line I also fished shad spoons.  I was fishing the Delaware River, above the tidal section.  American Shad don't feed on their spawning run.  They hit the fly out of irritation or reaction.  The reason for the flashy flies.  They tend to follow the main channels and they stay close to the bottom.  So I needed to get my fly down as much as 15 feet to get in their strike range.  If you're not losing flies, you're not in the strike zone of the shad.  A lot of fishing in the middle section of the river is done from boats.   You can wade fish with care.  Once you get above Hancock, NY and then into the east and west branches it's easier wade fishing water is shallower and you can catch them on dry flies, at times. 

 I'm not familiar with the Connecticut River.  The only time I've seen it is when I followed the White River in VT down to where it enters the Connecticut.  I know it's got a few dams on it.  If you can access below the dams they might be good spots to try.  Assuming the dams have fish ladders then the further upstream you can get the more likely you are to catch a shad.You'd have to check locally to see if any of the tributaries have shad runs.  The state of PA has spent years trying to reestablish the shad runs in the tributaries of the Delaware.  They're had some success.  

 Good luck.  Shad are a blast on a fly rod.

Wow you can catch em on dry flies. That's pretty wicked

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These folks have covered the topic very well. Really doesn't matter where you're fishing for them, with flies, it's pretty much the same, except as Philly mentioned, getting the flies down to where they need to be. 

 

You can use many types of flies too. Clouser Minnows are great, as are most flashy Bonefish types. Most shad flies are very simple on hooks from a 6 up to about a 1 where the bigger American Shad are common. I've caught many of them on bigger lures while fishing for Stripers and LM bass in some of the tidal creeks in MD, and on beetle spin type lures while fishing for Crappies or Perch, which would be spawning in those waters at the same time the Shad were there. 

 

At times, I tied flies on basic, gold plated Carlisle type hooks, since they were less costly than fly hooks, and because many flies would get lost to the rocks on the bottom. I also used a 6 wt most often, but like was said, have used an 8 wt when Stripers or LM bass were very probable. 

 

These are some flies that I've tied over the years for Shad, and once the Shad run was done, they can be used for many panfish species as well. Some of these are Steelhead patterns, just tied on a less costly hook.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't caught one on the fly( I plan to this year), but do catch a lot on spinning gear. Speaking with a few of the fly guys this weekend up at popular spot in MA, most just use small (and I mean small) shad darts on floating line, or with a sink tip. Swinging it in the current and stripping it back slowly seemed to be the best technique

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Same fish, different coast... Simple fly pattern for them here.  Size 6 811 saltwater hook.  I vary the eyes from bead chain to dumbbell depending on water flow.  In the big river I use a 7 or 8 wt with 20-24’ fast sink tip, 5-6’ Maxima ultra green in 8 lb test.  In smaller water we can go down to a 5 or 6 wt.  On good days, your arms are tired from catching fish after 2-3 hours.  Last year the run on the Columbia was over 6 million fish. 

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Those flies will work on this coast too. I just change the dumbbell size for different water depths. You want to get a hook in the upper jaw so a properly tracking clouser/Charlie style works best.  I use OPST stinger hooks, barbless. You will drop a lot of fish but the fight on a 4 wt. is awesome. 10# maxima with a sinking leader or small sink tip to get it down into their zone.

 

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16 hours ago, GregO said:

Same fish, different coast... Simple fly pattern for them here.  Size 6 811 saltwater hook.  I vary the eyes from bead chain to dumbbell depending on water flow.  In the big river I use a 7 or 8 wt with 20-24’ fast sink tip, 5-6’ Maxima ultra green in 8 lb test.  In smaller water we can go down to a 5 or 6 wt.  On good days, your arms are tired from catching fish after 2-3 hours.  Last year the run on the Columbia was over 6 million fish. 

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That is is insane 6million. I think the biggest herring run we have is 1 million. I bet people on the west coast don't even appreciate them, with some many other greats species around. I wish the fisheries around here would put a little more effort into ramping up stocking programs for them. I just imagine taunton / newmesket river systems would bennifit with a couple heavy stockings. The north and south river have a small population but not enough to target them in the main stems. North system are improving with dam removel projects and water quality improvements. But, I still here nothing of stockings or a shad ladder. I don't  get it.

Fishing is not my hobie,it's my obsession!
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On 4/14/2020 at 4:54 PM, Jim H said:

These folks have covered the topic very well. Really doesn't matter where you're fishing for them, with flies, it's pretty much the same, except as Philly mentioned, getting the flies down to where they need to be. 

 

You can use many types of flies too. Clouser Minnows are great, as are most flashy Bonefish types. Most shad flies are very simple on hooks from a 6 up to about a 1 where the bigger American Shad are common. I've caught many of them on bigger lures while fishing for Stripers and LM bass in some of the tidal creeks in MD, and on beetle spin type lures while fishing for Crappies or Perch, which would be spawning in those waters at the same time the Shad were there. 

 

At times, I tied flies on basic, gold plated Carlisle type hooks, since they were less costly than fly hooks, and because many flies would get lost to the rocks on the bottom. I also used a 6 wt most often, but like was said, have used an 8 wt when Stripers or LM bass were very probable. 

 

These are some flies that I've tied over the years for Shad, and once the Shad run was done, they can be used for many panfish species as well. Some of these are Steelhead patterns, just tied on a less costly hook.

 

100_4073.JPG

100_4364.JPG

100_4257.JPG

100_4286.JPG

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I really like your selection. You got it right. Basically I do the same thing. Darts that look like a small shrimp or baitfish, that are colorful with various different weight for depth. I tye most on a size 6 bait hook. That cost 1.29 a pack at Walmart.

Fishing is not my hobie,it's my obsession!
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34 mins ago, stripedbassjeff said:

I really like your selection. You got it right. Basically I do the same thing. Darts that look like a small shrimp or baitfish, that are colorful with various different weight for depth. I tye most on a size 6 bait hook. That cost 1.29 a pack at Walmart.

Thanks! It helps that I enjoy tying the flies. I was probably 17 or 18 the first time I tried for shad with fly gear, so been a very long time that I've been chasing them. ( I'm 64 now) One of my flies was even picked up by a fly fishing club and posted online as "the" fly to use, but it really isn't much different than most. I called it the Deer Creek Special, after Deer Creek in MD, a popular tributary of the Susquehanna River for targeting Shad. That was the first place I recall fly fishing for Shad too. 

 

As I also mentioned, the various flies are all good for panfish species too, so if a person fishes for multiple species, they don't need to sit in a fly box once the Shad have gone.

 

I probably started with some general purpose hooks, then went to using "fly" hooks as I could afford to buy them, then back to the general purpose hooks. If you fish for Shad often, you're bound to lose plenty of flies, and a Carlisle or Aberdeen style hook is usually less costly than a fly hook. The Shad don't care, that's for sure. Those flies in the boxes I posted are tied on a variety of hooks. I only remember a few times that a hook got bent while fishing for Shad, and that was mostly on the bottom rocks. I'm sure I've had Stripers of other fish bend a few too, as they were sometimes in the same areas as the Shad. Still, it didn't justify the cost of buying "better" hooks, even though I did that too.

 

I really wanted to catch a few Shad this year, but weather & this virus issue didn't cooperate, and I'm sure they're gone from the rivers here now. Hopefully, I'll give it a try again next year! 

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