Spring teased the Mid-Atlantic in February, the promise
of an early fishing season ending with an early March Snowstorm. I have been itching to get back on the river and
headed south on 95 with my very game boss after work to check the Shad Run on
the Rappahannock. Jessica had never
fished the run so I let her know that we'd either hit them and have a great
time or have casting practice for 15 minutes and head back if they were not in
yet. Turns out that the run is building,
Fritz had reported a few hook-ups three days ago, and we were blessed with enough
fish to keep us busy and few anglers at tip-of-the-island hole above the Falmouth
Bridge.
Jessica gamely donned XL waders
and boots a few inches too big and we moved across the island to the pool. Osprey were diving for herring (always a
good sign) and as I moved into the hole a spooked a pod of hickory shad etched
smile on my face.
I rigged Jessica with a
medium spinning outfit w a shad spoon under a sliding sinker and used my Orvis SF
Henry's Fork 5-Wt with weighted silver-chenille shad darts tied over the
winter. Steering my backcast through
pockets in the bank-trees I was able to nearly reach the rapid break on the far
side of the pool, mend the line to the left as it drifted to the right to get
some depth....then WHACK -- shad-on! As
Fritz and I found last year there's a sweet deep slot that holds the moist shad
if one stands on the rock ledge and casts out and then retrieves back, after
the offering leaves the fastest current it sinks into the slot and hook-ups are
a good bet.
I love these fighters and
when Jessica hooked and landed a beauty the day was a total success. We only stayed for 90-minutes, but had a
great time. I'll be back in a few hours.
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