This time of year there are a lot of fishing opportunities here in my part of the world. Trout fishing in our cold water streams is at it’s peak. The local lakes and ponds are warming, and bass and panfish are in the shallows getting ready for the spawn. The saltwater scene is also waking up, big stripers are in the backwaters and starting to show up on the beaches, and the elusive weakfish will begin entering our rivers and be available to fly fishers for a small window of time. On top of everything I just mentioned there are also shad!
Shad are one of my favorite fish to chase with a fly rod. They readily take small, bright flies and are great fighters. I plan on taking a little break from fishing and guiding for trout as well chasing bass and panfish around the local lakes and ponds. I am looking forward to spending a couple of days on the Delaware River to fly fish for shad. The shad run has been in full swing for a while now. At the moment the Delaware River is running a little high in the areas I plan on fishing so I will be watching water levels closely, and I will be hitting the water as soon as the conditions are favorable. I usually wait until we are a few weeks into the run as many of my fly fishing spots are quite a ways upstream. Although you can spin fish for shad practically everywhere, spots suitable for fly fishing are not as widespread. Because of that, I won’t be giving any specifics here. Plus scouting the river is half the fun.
One of my favorite spots on the river.
I have written about shad fishing in the past. And rather than regurgitate that information in this post I have included a few links to past blog posts on the subject. Clicking the buttons below will take you to those blog posts. You can also use the search bar on the home page to find information about fly fishing for shad on this website.
If you have never fished for fly fished for shad you are missing out on some great fun. If there are shad runs in your neck of the woods, get out there and give them a try. You will not be disappointed.