Still Messin' Around on the River

While looking forward to getting back to the Chesapeake, the James River in hometown Richmond has kept me entertained.  Quick trips after work have yielded an abundance of hickory shad as well as some white perch, herring, and American Shad.  Reports of big catfish and some stripers have picked up as well.

American Shad.

Remember you are not allowed to possess herring or American Shad.

Jeff Lockhart and I hit the river after work on Monday.  It took a bit to find the fish but once we did it was hook up after hook up.  Shad flies as well as spoons produced many hits.  After the sun went down we put out chunks of hickory shad on 8/0 circles hooks.  It was slower than I was expecting but after a while, Jeff's kayak started dragging anchor as he went to work hauling in a good size fish.  An impressive set of splashes caught enough interest from me to pull my anchor up to see what it was.

Jeff crushed his previous personal best blue catfish with this fat 43"er.  

We stuck around a little longer, messed with smaller cats, and called it a good night in RVA.  The short drive back home left little time to plan the next trip, 

but we both agree...

The salt calls.

Short Morning Session (with video)

I woke up juggling the calendar, with a foot in my face and an elbow in my crotch.  The Jake and the Neverland Pirates' theme song was still stuck in my head next to potential client email drafts, needy little what's for breakfast and can we have sprinkles.  My mind was crowded with unfinished powerwashing chores, MIA little pink stuffed elephant drama, overdue oil changes, super-evil-mega-corps silently upping my bill, wall doodles, and the infinite stream of laundry.  I Hattori Hanzo'd my way out, making sure not to wake the lil' ninja who snuck into bed upside down.  Then, sans coffee, I silently slid into the river in the cover of darkness.

As light slowly crept through the haze, the curtains were pulled back on the soul invigorating glow of the water.  Long exhales shrank my worries and I felt my head declutter.  With every paddle stroke, I reminded myself of all I had to be thankful for.  A short ways later, I caught a good rhythm on the 6wt flyrod and found a few little bronzbacks to go with my smile.

Back in time to rock breakfast duty and watch Saturday morning couch jumping in pajamas, Jake's theme song wasn't so annoying after my short morning session.

Spring Rituals

I started chasing shad about 2 and a half weeks ago.  They were already plentiful then with lots of big hickories and a few American shad up to 3lbs in the mix.

A few weeks later, the spots I found them at earlier were not producing as much so I scooted up to I-95.  

Good times on the fly.  

Here is a link to some shad tips and specie identification.  

Remember, you can't possess American shad or herring.