That happened yesterday with shad.
Shad?
Yes, shad.
I was going on my Sunday morning walk around the neighborhood (no fishing rod this time) when I started to daydream about my somewhat annual shad fishing trips to central Florida with Captain Rich Santos. I always go the open weekend between the NFL Conference championship games and the Super Bowl, just because that's how my work schedule goes in February.
I didn't go last year, which while it was a bit of a bummer, the Eagles winning the Super Bowl immediately soothed any pain I experienced. But like I said, this morning I couldn't help daydreaming about the prospects for 2019 and getting hooked up with a "poor man's tarpon," not to mention the common bycatch of Sunshine bass...
Anyway, the excuse to show off some old grip & grins aside (I mean it's hard not to smile when catching those fish), as I was shuffling through my smartphone during my walk, desperately needing to catch up on some fishing podcasts from while I was doing the Alaska thing, it was hard not to have my eyes immediately go toward this one in my "new releases" queue:
Ooh, now that was more than a little creepy...
Sure, this is about summer shad fishing up in the Washington D.C. area on the Potomac River, rather than the late winter St. John's River shad run of Florida, but still... shad is shad... and it's not a fish that's often pontificated upon in fly fishing circles.
So anyway, if you're interested in shad, give the embedded DrakeCast a listen. It's really good... the host hooks up with Joel Johnson and they talk about the fish from all angles, bad pun notwithstanding.
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| Image: The Drake |
Good game fish. Kind of bony for eating. Fun to catch
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fun to catch. Not sure I'd even try to eat 'em... although I guess they did back in the colonial days quite a bit.
DeleteThis time of year in CT, the American Shad are gone but their smaller cousin the Hickory Shad are abundant in the estuaries. They're willing takers and will hit flies or small lures aggressively. I harvest them and keep them in the freezer for blue crab or bluefish bait. Because of the bones, they're impossible to eat. Back in the day the Shad netters would have shacks along the Connecticut R. and sell shad roe and fillets directly (American shad). Haven't seen them the last few years.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I guess there's a difference in the boniness (sp?) between Hickory & American shad if one is too bony to eat and the other was sold in fillets? Not going to lie, don't know much about eating them - I always let them go.
DeleteThat's a pretty cool fish. Can't wait to see what you catch in Feb!
ReplyDeleteThanks RD... I just hope I'm able to swing the trip this upcoming year!
DeleteThere's shad that come up to Raleigh and up the Raonoke River near Weldon every year. The American Shad are crazy fun on a fly rod.
ReplyDeleteA blast. Love the fight those fish put out, plus the like to jump, which is always exciting.
DeleteMichael
ReplyDeleteNever eat a shad, I would assume one has to dress the fish in a certain way to eliminate bones of course and the fishy taste. Wide open casting with no worries of getting hook in trees what a rely--thanks for sharing
No worries, I'm not interested in eating any. Just a fun fish to chase. Yep, no trees, although I'm not used to fly casting from the deck of a boat, so sometimes I get loose fly line hooked around the rope cleats...
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