2007 Shad Report

“No Water, Too Much Water”

 

It was the day before Mother’s Day, and we were eager to find some shad on the American River.  For us, Mother’s Day is traditionally the day when you can expect shad to arrive on the American.  To our surprise, there were none!

 

We saw a post on a bulletin board that some one was catching shad on the Yuba, I thought it was a little strange since the water on both the Yuba and Feather were too low to get fish over Shanghai rapids but what the heck, let’s check it out.  No shad on the Yuba but lots of stripers and half-pound steelhead.  Yuba flow 1,200 cfs, Feather flow 1,700 cfs.

 

Back to the American River, the flow 1,500 cfs.  I can’t remember when the water was this low, maybe back during the drought years in the late 70’s and 80’s.

 

May 16th, Joe and I were invited to do a clinic for the Granite Bay Fly Fishers; they were an excellent bunch of enthusiastic anglers.  Still no shad in the American.  That next weekend we floated the river down to Watt Avenue, no shad to be found.

 

May 23rd, Joe and I held another clinic for the Granite Bay Fly Fishers, another excellent bunch of students but no shad.  I stuck my neck out that evening and said the shad will be here next week with the full moon.

 

Memorial weekend is usually the time when I start fishing the Yuba but with the flows so low, it was just not going to happen this year.  I can’t remember when the Yuba did not have a shad run.  Even during the drought years we still had a few shad.  As the days passed the water level kept dropping down to 500 cfs.  Forget the Yuba this year.  Like I have always said, at best you can only expect a good run of shad maybe 3 out of 5 years on this river.

 

Since we have had two years of very heavy flows on the American, it was like learning the river all over again, not to mention the low flows completely change the holding water.  Two days before the full moon, my out of towners had come a long way and didn’t want to leave without catching a few shad this week.  They got their wish, boating over 50 fish the first day.

 

Joe, Vic and I had a lot of fun with the group from Tracy and Fremont (August, Craig, Tom, Makarand, Kaye, Dave, Steve) they are always hard on one another but are there to have fun no matter what the fishing is like.  I can still remember the look on the two bankies; three boats anchor below where they had been fishing and for the next three hours put on a clinic on catching shad and having fun.

 

The water level went up a few hundred cfs and it was lights out fishing for the next four days.  Then they dropped the water and it slowed down the first day, but the next day it was back to normal. 

 

A cold front moved in one day and it was the only day that I was blanked, too bad it had to happen to my good friend Leo Gutterres.

 

If you want guaranteed success, schedule your trip around the same time as Mike Alaimo and Bob Johnson, they are two of the luckiest guys I have ever guided.   Oh, that would be the first Wednesday and Thursday in June. 

 

Sorry Andy and Chung you were just one day too early.  Better luck next year!  p.s. I’m not talking about the fishing!

 

Larry Carroll and John Dalton, Wilderness Fly Fishers, had a fun two days of fishing, their first shad experience on the American River.

 

Joe, Vic and I would like to thank all of you for the fun times this year; hope to see you all back again next year.

 

   


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