Flies for Shad

hooker-of-men · Apr 11, 2022

I only get down to the Delaware to fish for shad one or two days a year, and I have still never caught one on a fly rod. So, I figured what better thing to do than to tie some flies and further invest time in this pursuit of diminishing returns...

What do folks like to tie for fishing around DWGNRA? Everything I've seen looks to me to be essentially a variation on a clouser. Any recommendations for specific videos/recipes for versions you like?

Bamboozle · Apr 11, 2022

Back when I was stupid and knew nothing about shad, I encountered a guy while fishing a pond behind the Stroud Township Municipal Building. He enlightened me about shad fishing and advised me to makes flies that looked like shad darts.

I went home and fabricated some ugly flies using bucktail, lead wrapped around a short shanked hook, over which I slipped pearl or yellow Mylar piping. I tied all of my creations with red thread.

I was clueless, but I caught shad with regularity with those flies on the beastly 9'6" 8 weight bamboo outfit I used in those days.

I also used a homemade shooting head, fabricated from a full sinking line and some heavy mono to get the "darts" down fast with a homemade shooting basket (a dishpan & a bungee cord). The shooting head allowed me to cast far out and into the river channel where the fish were, without needing a lot of back cast room or having to fiddle around with aerializing a lot of line.

I spent a lot time after that learning about shad fishing, but I haven't fished for shad in decades and gave up the fly rod when chasing them eons ago too, maybe because it was feast or famine wade fishing, and definitely more famine for me. I also moved from E-Burg so it became a long drive for me just to get skunked. 😉

However, I never caught as many shad as I did back then on those shad dart flies when I didn't know what I was doing...

Good luck!

shadspoon · Apr 11, 2022

Pretty much the same as what Bamboozle said... On the Delaware, I only get up as far as Easton shad fishing. If the shad are there you are never alone. Watch what the spin guys are catching on and go from there. I use flutter spoons, flies and small darts. All on the small size. Very difficult to find a place with the fly rod among the spin guys so I find my own spot below them. Using a 7 wt with a type 3 shooting head, stripping basket is a necessity. I don't try to fish the bottom but can get down 2 or 3 feet in the slower areas and that is enough wading. More productive with spin gear but you know that.

JerryC · Apr 11, 2022

Last time I fished for shad, it was above Hancock the middle of May. I'm not sure how far up the shad have gotten. The river's been blown out for the last week. I get e-mails from the only commercial shad fishery on the Delaware located in Lambertsville, NJ, and he hasn't been able to get his nets out yet. With the high water and low water temps in the upper 40's. I haven't seen any reports of folks catching shad in the tidal river below Scudder's Falls. That said.
I use a 9' 6 wgt with a sinking line usually with a straight piece of 10 or 12 lb fluorocarbon, between 7 and 10 feet long. Here's a picture of the flies I'm tying up in case I decide to go on my SW club's shad trip down to Deer Creek in MD.

I have a few more to tie. The ones on either end are my standard shad flies. Tied on size 6 hooks. The colors match my best producing shad darts. The three in the middle are patterns tied in the weekly Zoom fly tying session my SW club hosts. Now that I've brought some more heavy dumbbell eyes I going to finish the box with my standard shad flies.

afishinado · Apr 11, 2022

Nice flies.

Check out the DRSFA report >

Fishing Log | Shad Fishing

poopdeck · Apr 11, 2022

the shad are in the river in lambertville. First catch reports started coming in around Mid March. Very very early this year. Earlier than any other year that I remember. Not much catching going on with the high water but that should come to an end by the end of the work week. My guess is they would be getting hammerEd right now if not for the high water. typical of spring though. For the water gap area I would assume you still have a few weeks until they are seen in any great numbers.

Not much to catching shad except having Something shiny and putting it in front of a shad. Sounds much easier than it actually is. Shad don’t eat on their run so they will hit almost anything that gets in their way. A gold size 2 Aberdeen hook with a gold sequence works just fine if you can get it down close to the bottom. most shad are caught very near the bottom so weighted shiny flies are better yet. Jerryc has a nice box of flies that you can work off of.

full disclosure - I shad fish in lambertville from a boat and fish in about 7 - 10 feet of water. Typically in fast current not conducive to fly fishing. I have used a fly rod but don’t because I catch way more on spinning gear. one could, and some do, use a fly rod like a spinning rod but that makes no sense to me. Good luck.

hooker-of-men · Apr 11, 2022

Thanks all. I do know the game a little; I've gotten them spin fishing from a boat with darts. It was fun, but the fly seems like the logical next step.

My trips to the area are primarily to visit friends and fish for trout, so I just dedicate a few hours to the river if I'm there at the right time of year.

The DRSFA site is a great resource, but RIP Shad Hotline. That was truly a surreal and unforgettable thing to exist