Hickory Shad on Deer Creek

Type: Nontidal
Region: Northern
Location: Deer Creek

After several false starts, retired Fisheries biologist, Dale Weinrich and I were able to meet on Deer Creek to try for hickory shad. Dale has been flyfishing on the creek for decades and knows not only where the best holes are, he also knows where the most productive little runs that held fish. As usual, when I arrived at daylight Dale had already scored on a dozen or so fish. He was gracious to allow me to share the spot with him and the shad were immediately cooperative. However, Dale is a great believer in stationing yourself in a spot to achieve the best �angle� for presenting a fly to the waiting shad. Even though we were only 6 feet apart and fishing the same water, he outscored me by a margin of at least 2 to 1. The action continued for an hour then waned for a bit. After one more flurry, we called it a day. Dale landed over forty of the leaping and lurching �poor man�s tarpon� and I ended up with about half that number. Shad flies in hot pink were the most productive flies. I think Dale�s choice of a sinking tip fly line is the reason I was outfished � plus he has decades of experience and �holds his mouth right�!