2003 Recap Shad

Lot’s of water and Lot’s of Shad

When March rolled around and we were behind in rainfall, I was beginning to wonder if we would have enough water in the Yuba this year. But here comes April and the storm doors were open. I was praying for rain and rain we got. Instead of the normal 1,200 to 1,500 cfs we were looking at 4,000 to 6,000 cfs. That’s a lot of water. After spending quite a bit of time on the Yuba scouting out the run, I decided that it was going to be OK despite the high water.

Starting on June 2^nd George and Willie, my two favorite brothers lead the way. Over the next four days, they managed to land 30 or more shad a piece each day. Some days we would start and finish early and other days we would start later in the day and finish at dark.

The river was filled with fish the next day and Steve Von Berg and Argus Smith took full advantage of it, landing over 50 fish a piece. At one point in the day they could do nothing wrong, hooking and landing fish on multiple casts. Alan and his partner (name), two beginners to shad fishing, were amazed at the battle the shad would put up and managed to land very respectable numbers. Since it was Sunday and they would have to drive back to the Bay area that night and work the next day, they kept telling me that one more fish and it would be time to leave, well just before dark we were off the water, so much for getting off early.

Leo, a long time friend and excellent shad fisherman, was my next challenge. He wasn’t too interested in wall to wall fishing and when he hooked his 30^th fish around 4 pm, it was time to go. That was OK with me since I haven’t been home in a week and a half.

Over the three weeks that I spent guiding the Yuba, it was hard to out guess what the water conditions would be the next day. Looking at my put-in each morning would give me a good indication as to what I could expect down river. The only problem was during the day, the water sometimes would raise or drop a foot or two, making some runs unfishable. Sherrie and Richard got caught in that situation, with the water dropping and raising during the day. But they still managed to land quite a few shad. My out of state guests had a great day with some unconventional tactics. Tom, loved his spey rod and could work it to perfection. It was just a matter of changing tips to suit the water conditions and he was into fish. His partner, Michael, another good trout fisherman, learned the importance about line control and mending. Something that I preach heavily every day!

With the water dropping, it opened up more water for us to fish from the drift boat. It was a pleasure having George B. and John W. in the boat. They are both excellent casters. They did some real damage that day on the river. In fact, it was their best day they ever had shad fishing, their words not mine. Two days later, George and his son in law, John R. we’re ready for a very good day, and good it was. I remember John from last year, he was thinking we would start around 8 am and finish around 3 pm and then go home, little did he know that it doesn’t matter what time we start, we usually don’t go home until dark thirty. So he was prepared this year and paced himself accordingly.

Bruce and Sallye managed to hit an off day on the Yuba, but still caught quite a few fish.

Mike A. a retired publisher from San Rafael had never been shad fishing in his life, but I can tell you he is hooked and will be back next year.

Alan and his partner from the Bay area were both first time shad fishermen, were amazed at how hard shad fight.  They ended up with good numbers and kept saying after this fish, wee are going.  We still ended up getting off at dark!

Thanks to Dan, it was another easy day, he just needed to be pointed in the right direction and he was into fish. Since he was alone that day it gave me time to use a spinning rod, something that I haven’t done in many, many years. But my next day booking was going to be a husband and wife combination of fly and spinning equipment.

The Chen’s were wonderful people and thoroughly enjoyed the day. They also wanted to get off the river early but hooking shad keep getting in the way of their departure.

Thank you all, looking forward to next year.

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