NCC-TU SHAD REPORT #6
May 28, 2008

It's been over three weeks since our last report and it seems that many shad anglers have moved on to other things.  Not so fast, the shad are back!  Actually, flood levels and low water temps caused shad to hold for a while but they never really left.  Shad must complete their mission.  Now we have what amounts to an early summer rerun.

The Potomac River has been high and muddy for most of May, but once it dropped below six feet at Little Falls hickory shad started hitting from shore like it was late March.  The Boathouse at Fletcher's Cove was finally able to rent out boats on Memorial Day.  It didn't take long for Mike Bailey to discover American shad where he last found them, in hickory-like numbers.  Several holiday anglers gathered around his boat.  The action on Tuesday and Wednesday was also explosive on the moving tides, with both fly and spinning tackle.  Few anglers were out on the river.

It is always more difficult to locate American shad late in the season.  Right now they are stacking up in some of the riffles just out from Fletcher's dock.  Who knows where they will be as the river drops and water temps rise?  Two things are certain:  Shad are still here and you cannot catch them at home.

The shad rerun will not last long and this may be our last report.  When we started out nearly two months ago we provided some links for monitoring Potomac tides, water levels and water temps.  Those of you following the data during the high water may have noticed how cold the heavy rain was.  With air temperatures also below average, the stage was set for the shad run to continue at some point.  Right now, water temps are already back up to where they were just before the rain (69F) and probably won't drop again.  Normal water temps for late May are 70F to 74F.

Did the bad weather make for an unproductive shad run?  Not necessarily, according to fisheries biologist Jim Cummins.  Jim writes, "From what I saw on the Potomac and from the Virginia biologists who work on the York, we believe that the run and the spawn for shad was both delayed and is extending well past what is normal.  But I prefer what has happened this year over a quick warm up, which causes many more and worse problems."  The fresh spawning fish we're seeing now will help make up for any fry lost to the flood.

A rerun is not always such a bad thing.

If you have shad reports from other waters, please email them to ncc.info@ncc.tu.org and we will spread the word.