Tough American Shad

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: Fletchers Boat House

I decided to break out my fly fishing gear, and I am glad I did. I fished above Fletcher's Boat House (Potomac River, DC) and caught both hickory shad and American shad, mostly on a pink shad fly. The two American shad that I caught took at least 10 minutes each to bring in, often taking my line halfway across the river. I was surprised how hard these fish fight for their size. The American shad were about 20-21 inches long and 3-1/2 pounds or better. I saw numerous carp and catfish jumping out of the water and some of these fish were huge. I also spotted a snakehead coming up for air and I tried to catch it but had no luck getting it to bite, so dinner will have to wait. The photo below shows the biggest American shad that I caught. The hickory shad were much more numerous than the American shad. I do not know how much longer the shad will be there.