Previous Next

I went fishing for shad for the second time in my life. This was the first time I found success! I fished near Bonneville Dam, but quite aways down from the crowd. I was happy to trade productivity for an open patch of water to drift. I was there from about 1-6 pm. I drifted and slowly retrieved beads and corkies of all colors and sizes the first three hours. Got nothing, except about -20 setsups lost to snags. So in a way I got less than nothing! This is one of those fisheries that everyone seems to get but me, I started to think.

Out of desperation I started to experiment. I had four Swedish Pimples in my tacklebox (usually just used for ice fishing) and they did the trick! I hooked 6 and landed 4 in about 30 minutes of in-the-water time (two broke my leader on a jump-- I was going very light 4 and 6 lb test). They struck green and red pimples. Didn't care for the blue one. Before I lost my last Swedish Pimple I snagged a leader with a green/white shad dart on it. That caught my 5th and final shad. Once I lost the dart to a snag I tried beads again, but once again came up fishless.

People with ample shad darts did really well-- most people who knew what they were doing probably got 10 or so fish. The first time I tried shad fishing (like 6 years ago) I tried darts and didn't do any good. I guess the bite was off that day or the fish count was low-- because I'm a believer now! Next time I'll have an arsenal of darts and some Swedish Pimples. I was very impressed with the size and fight of the fish! Pound-for-pound these guys are awesome!

Currently, they are in my smoker.

tluedeke

5/30/2013 11:23:00 PM

Fantastic! I didn't realize they had really started yet.

returnofthefish

5/31/2013 12:18:00 AM

Nice work Fish or man. It took me over 5-6 trips to get the hang of it. Hoping to catch a few this weekend. DId you make a video?

Fish-or-man?

5/31/2013 12:58:00 AM

Thanks! Returnofthefish- I think so. I had my camera setup behind me about 30 feet, but the footage didn't come out all that great. Pretty disappointed in it. Ah, what the heck. It's youtube. :) Thanks for the honesty on getting the hang of it too! All I ever hear about the fishery is it's a slam dunk, but there is definitely a learning curve there. It's a unique drift/slow retrieve technique at the proper angle that seems to bring in the shad... I still can't get over how well they battle on light gear! What a rush!

afk

5/31/2013 6:31:00 AM

Thanks for the report!

Mike Carey

5/31/2013 6:38:00 AM

Are you smoking them up?

flyfisherguy

5/31/2013 8:06:00 AM

Next time, try a Dick Nite spoon in the smallest size, have a supply of red and silver, green and gold and red and gold. Some days they like one color better than the others. Use a 2-3 foot drop line and a 2-3 foot leader with enough weight to keep the line steady and not drifting downstream, usually 2 to 3 ounces is plenty.

oneshot

5/31/2013 11:37:00 AM

looks like a fun catch! nice work.. i'd like to find out some where local for me to get these..

Fish-or-man?

5/31/2013 1:06:00 PM

Thanks Flyfisher guy! Cool-- sounds like I had the setup right minus the dick nite. Awesome! I'm sure they'd love them if they were gitting Swedish Pimples. Mkike, yep. Smoked them last nite. They werent done until late, so I'm going to try my first smoker shad ever in an hour or two!

returnofthefish

5/31/2013 1:36:00 PM

They will be available till the end of June One Shot in the Columbia River. You dont have to fish at the bank below the Bonneville Dam if you have a boat.

Fish-or-man?

5/31/2013 5:12:00 PM

woopee! smoked shad is delicious!

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save