Recent Tying!

[tidewaterfly 0]

Took a couple of days off from work & had a long weekend. Spent it away at a resort in VA with my wife, son, daughter in law & grandsons. Was nice to spend time with the family, but the whole weekend was primarily for the kids, so I took along a tying bag. I like swimming pools as much as anyone, but a hundred screaming kids in not my idea of fun!

 

Here's the result of a few hours of my kind of fun!

 

Can never have enough chartreuse & white Clousers! Mostly 1/0's & a couple of 3/0. Epoxy on the heads will finish them.

 

A couple of barbell eyed buggers. Size 1, Daiichi Worm Hooks.

 

A Clouser tied with Polar Flash.

 

Spinner Flies! I didn't have enough spinners with me to complete all of them. Size 4 Matzuo Sickle hooks.

 

Finally, some Shad Flies with tungsten bead heads. Size 4, 3X streamer hooks.

[Peterjay 0]

Nice ties Jim. You're gonna be loaded for bear when it warms up a bit. I really like those shad flies - do you guys still have fishable runs over there? I know the shad runs have gone down the tubes in a lot of places, including my own home river.

[feathers5 0]

You sure made good use of your time. They look real nice.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Nice ties Jim. You're gonna be loaded for bear when it warms up a bit. I really like those shad flies - do you guys still have fishable runs over there? I know the shad runs have gone down the tubes in a lot of places, including my own home river.

 

Peter, I've already got more flies than I'll need, but choices had to be made!

 

I've not fished for Shad in many years, have planned to give it a try the past couple, but something always got in the way. I've read some reports the last few years that they're still getting some decent runs in some of the rivers. They don't last very long, but there are fish that can be caught. It's a C & R fishery anyway, as Shad cannot be kept here. If the weather cooperates, and rains don't flood everything, I'm hoping to spend at least one day on the Susquehanna after Shad this year. If that doesn't work out, Crappies & Perch will eat the same flies! There are some Shad that move into the Eastern Shore rivers as well, not like it was in years past, and they're harder to find because the waters are not clear anyway, but if enough time is spent, I'm sure a few could be found. Last one I caught was by accident several years ago, on a Beetle Spin in one of the tidal rivers on the ES while hoping to catch some Crappies. That one was an American Shad of about 4 lbs. I thought the darn thing was a bass when it hit.

 

Feathers5, thank you!

[ebfreeman_78 0]

Those look like excellent flies for crappie. If I may ask what size of rod are you planning on using those inline spinners on or will you use a spinning ultralight rod and reel?

[tidewaterfly 0]

I can throw them with my 6 wt, or with an ultralight spinning rod. They're not any heavier than some Clousers I use with the 6 wt. However, I also rarely cast heavy stuff further than about 30 ft with the 6 wt, so it's more of a lob than a cast.

 

Actually, I had planned on tying the spinner flies with some 3/16" brass beads, with the intention of using them with the spinning rod, but forgot to take them with me.

 

The flashy silver flies & the ones with the chartreuse bodies are tied based on the idea of a pattern called a "Goldie" which works well for many species.

[agn54 0]

Awesome stuff Tide. I have been wanting to try for shad for a while but haven't gotten around to it. In the past there have been some regular shad runs in the St. Johns but I haven't heard how it was this year. It seems to be hit and miss from year to year

[tidewaterfly 0]

Awesome stuff Tide. I have been wanting to try for shad for a while but haven't gotten around to it. In the past there have been some regular shad runs in the St. Johns but I haven't heard how it was this year. It seems to be hit and miss from year to year

 

 

Thank you! I remember a magazine article I read once about fly fishing for shad in the St John's River. Here in MD, there's been a moratorium on harvesting them for several years, and a few years back, from reports I read, they seemed to be doing well. Last year not as good. We get runs of both Hickory Shad & American Shad. But, I'm sure they're like any other species with up & down years, so it's likely the same where you are. When they start to make their runs into the rivers, their progress can be tracked some, as reports will start showing on the fishing forums down in FL, then up the coast as the waters warm enough to suit them. It's usually April & into May, sometimes even into June before they show up here. Weather plays a big role in how well they show & how long they stay.

 

The Susquehanna & the Potomac are the two primary rivers that have the better shad runs here, so they're popular with anglers who are chasing them. There's also two tributaries of the Susquehanna that are popular, Octoraro Creek on the Cecil County side & Deer Creek on the Harford County side. When I had more time to chase them, I fished extensively in Deer Creek. Deer Creek also had good runs of White & Yellow Perch & herring in the spring, but they're not as good as they used to be either. Herring are protected too now I believe.

 

I remember a few times on Deer Creek when the perch & shad would be so thick, that they would often bump into your legs while wading. I've caught them one right after another on the same flies, never knowing what I had hooked until I saw them. That was fun, but could be annoying if small perch were taking the fly instead of shad.

 

Been a long time since those days.

[Peterjay 0]

Not to hijack your thread Jim, but a buddy of mine works on a monkfish boat out of Galilee, RI, and he says the herring boats are annihilating the shad and herring at sea, and that's the root of the problem. They've prohibited killing shad or herring in the rivers up there, but it's the proverbial Band-Aid on the broken leg. BTW - I always did a lot better on shad during high water. As long as I could get a fly out there and get it to the bottom, I usually caught fish. That was wonderful fishing to get a 6 or 7 pound female on a light rod. Those babies jumped like tarpon.

[tidewaterfly 0]

the herring boats are annihilating the shad and herring at sea, and that's the root of the problem. They've prohibited killing shad or herring in the rivers up there, but it's the proverbial Band-Aid on the broken leg.

 

Peter, as with the controversy about Menhaden, I'm sure that's a big part of our coastal fisheries problems. By-catch is being discussed a lot here for the commercial netting issues in the bay where Striped Bass & other species that may not be targeted are still being caught & not safely returned to the waters. What goes on out on the water is first difficult to monitor & second difficult to enforce.

 

Sometimes a little rain can be beneficial when fishing for Shad, when water levels are low. I've seen that myself. Unfortunately, in the spring, when we get rains, it's often too much & the rivers get too high & muddy to be safe to fish or for the fish to stay in them.

 

Frankly, I've always enjoyed catching the smaller Hickory Shad, they're really acrobatic!

 

BTW, thanks for that link to Theriault Flies! I contacted them for a catalog! I told them that you had made the referral & they said they would send the catalog anyway!LOL!

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Damn! Those kids must have spent days at the pool! You got more tying done in one weekend than I do in a month! Great looking stuff. The consistency of the Clousers is excellent, looks like they came out of a mold. Those Barbell Buggars are great looking too. Nice job on the spinner/flashy flies as well.

 

Kirk

[Peterjay 0]

BTW, thanks for that link to Theriault Flies! I contacted them for a catalog! I told them that you had made the referral & they said they would send the catalog anyway!LOL!

 

I think you'll like what they offer - they grow a lot of their own materials right there on the farm. BTW - They took my name off the blacklist as long as I promised to stop making fun of their Downeast accents. However, I'm still on double secret probation, so I'll be treading lightly for a while.