I went shad fishing for my first time from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. I used red and green shad darts, jig heads, and small spoons. Shad fishing isn't as idiot-proof as I had hoped. The first half an hour I was there about 50% of the 30 bank anglers were doing pretty well (about a fish every ten minutes). Shad must have color preferences like every other fish with decent sight because every angler I saw was using a shad dart and presenting it virtually the same way, yet only half of us were doing any catching. From 8 o' clock on the bite just came to a halt; either the school passed or the shad just decided to stop eating shiny things with hooks on them. This may be a common occurrence in shad fishing because when I arrived at 7:30 there where about 30 anglers on the bank, however, by 8:30 only five or six of us remained. People may have just wanted to get home before dark, but perhaps there is more to it than that, because those of us left where all newbies to the shad game. I fished until dark, 9:30, and all I had accomplished was losing $20-worth of shad darts, swivels, and weights to the mighty Columbia.

I was pretty disappointed at my cruddy performance. It was my first time getting skunked this season, and it was at a fishery where I've been told you can't keep them off the hook at times. My next day off is the 24th of this month, and I really want to get down to John Day Dam for round two. I've been told by a co-worker that when the shad are in mid-to-late run fishing below John Day Dam can prove as fruitful as fishing below Bonneville Dam.

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