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Heaven or Hell?

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  • Heaven or Hell?

    There is a tradition of some good literature written about the fishing experience, usually about Trout.
    Shad? Not so much.
    Allow me a little indulgence.

    Back in my fly fishing days, several decades ago, I remember reading a story that went something like this:
    An old fisherman passes on to that great trout stream in the sky, and is buried with his favorite bamboo fly rod and a box of dry flies.
    He awakens only to find himself knee deep in what he recognizes is a very famous trout stream, one that is renowned for it's difficult fishing and selective trout. He looks about and notices a famous guide is standing at the edge of the stream to offer him assistance or encouragement as needed.
    On his first cast, he hooks and lands a 12" trout.
    "Wow, that is impressive." he thinks to himself.

    On his next cast he hooks and lands a fish that is identical to the first.
    This goes on for several hours.
    On every cast cast he hooks a 12" trout, every one exactly the same.
    Even when he flubs a cast, a trout rises up and takes his fly.

    After a while, he leaves the water, and walks over to the guide, who is standing there looking very bored.
    The old fisherman asks:" Is this heaven? Every fish is exactly the same. It's like I keep catching the same fish over and over again. There is no variety, and no challenge, it's the same damn fish!""
    "What makes you think that you are in heaven?" replied the guide.

    That's sorta what it was like fishing on the Potomac, near Fletcher's, today. Except for the fact that I caught all different sized fish, it was practically a fish on almost every cast. I didn't go three successive casts without a hit, and probably didn't go five casts without a hookup. For the 2 1/2 hours I was there, it was continuous catching. The guys I was fishing with were still catching when I left.
    About 60% of the fish were males Hickories ranging from 10-16 inches and the remaining 40% were roe shad. The females are looking a little worse for wear, missing some scales, and torn fins, as broadcast spawning among the shad is apparently a bit vigorous and rough on the females fish. Several of the roe shad were 22+ inches long. As an added bonus I hooked one very good sized White (American) Shad, maybe 24" long, and I'd guess more than 5 lbs.
    Many times as I fought fish in, they were pursed by a bunch of rivals.
    Including my first cast of the day, I had 6 double headers.
    Suffice it to say, I caught a whole lot of fish.

    It got to the point where I began to experiment with changing lures to see what wouldn't catch fish.
    They all caught fish!
    I tried every color dart in the box and even a bunch of home made flutter spoons, everything caught!
    Lemon / lime was still the most effective, and pink/ white was less effective, but it didn't matter!

    We all occasionally need a day like this.
    Last edited by bignose; 04-13-2016, 04:30 PM.

  • #2
    It's true, we really do. One of my best fishing memories was on the beach with my dad in obx one Saturday afternoon. This was probably 12 years ago. We must've started fishing right during a run of small-medium size blues, though the school wasn't visible from the beach (no breaking water, no large moving shadows/large groups), and every double hook bottom rig would come back with 2 blues on it. We actually ran out of bait, and had a great breakfast the next morning. I don't know if I'm in the minority, but bluefish to this day, is still one of my top 5 favorite fish to eat. I'm waiting for my first good fishing day of this year, catch-wise. I always consider it a good day in the kayak if I don't get hurt and nothing major breaks. I caught a fair amount of blue cats during the March M&G, but I'm hoping to have some days in the near future, if not during the summer with croaker, white perch, blues, and rockfish. If I get one trophy size rockfish from a kayak this year, that'll be a GREAT day.

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    • #3
      Great report. We all live for days like this and your write up made me feel like I was there. Thanks for sharing
      Mike
      Pro Angler 14 "The Grand Wazoo"

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      • #4
        Great report. Sounds like the run is at peak. Peak should go for another week, maybe 2 weeks. What time were you there? I'm planning on going tomorrow but won't arrive there until 10:30 or so.
        Howard

        16' Oldtown Camper Canoe with a side-mount 40# thrust trolling motor.

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        • #5
          I was on the water from about 11:00 a.m. until 1:30 or so.
          You know where.

          Stu

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          • #6
            Congratulations on getting the timing exactly right today. That must have been fun.
            John Veil
            Annapolis
            Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

            Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

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            • #7
              That was certainly a rewarding day on the water. Congratulations and thanks for the report.

              Whether you are catching them or not, if shad are on your mind, I highly recommend reading "The Founding Fish" by the exceptional writer, John McPhee. He covers the biology of the fish and its importance ecologically, to first peoples and Europeans and much about their decline due to environmental degradation and damming of rivers. And plenty of anecdotes of the fishermen obsessed in the pursuit of these charismatic herring. Gives you something to think about between bites.

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              • #8
                Awesome! Those are the kind of days you don't soon forget.
                Brian

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                • #9
                  .......... No Stu .......... It was all your expertise .......... Glad you had one of those memorable days.

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                  • #10
                    Congrats on a great day.
                    Freddie T

                    2016 Hobie Outback LE #236
                    Torqeedo Ultralight 403

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