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PESCATORE-II

American River Shad Fishing

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I live in Rancho Cordova, CA... less than two miles from the American River. The north and south forks of the American meet at Folsom Lake which is about 12 miles north east of me and it exits into the section of the American which could be called the South Fork. It meanders for quite a few miles until it meets the Sacramento River. The American is teaming with many different species that migrate from the Sacramento river, to the American. Salmon, Steelhead, Stripers and Shad are some of the game fish that travel this section. So, I fish it regularly, this time of year, for Shad. They are fine fighters and provide plenty of practice, you soon learn that they hang near the bottom so, allowing your fly to sink good before you begin to strip works well to encourage them to take the fly.

 

When they slow down on American River Pinkies and Bloody Maria's, I switch to streamers. They seem to like the Mylar Mickey Finn's and Spruce Flies. I tie a variation of the Jack Dennis Spruce Fly, mine is crude but quite effective. I weight it on the shank with a few wraps of .5 mm lead wire so it gets down quickly and of course I use a sinking tip line as well as a sinking leader. The Shad are not as selective as other species so they see this fly as a minnow, which of course is part of their main diet. Sorry, no photos of the fish, I hope to correct this soon, with a purchase of a Nikon waterproof Digital Camera. But, here is an image of the modified Spruce that I shot with my Nikon D3 and a 105 mm Micro manual lens. My Spruce version seems to work pretty good for me, I usually catch three to four them about one hour before dark, a typical feeding pattern for the Shad here.

 

Re:

 

Don

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Click To Enlarge:

post-59309-0-26858900-1466392747_thumb.jpg

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I see those rivers as I fly into Sacramento Airport. Never got up that way (From where I work in French Camp) to fish them.

Interesting information.

Welcome to the site, again.

 

Just as a suggestion for further posts. The "photography corner" is for pics "other than" flies, I believe. Pictures of flies go in "the fly tying bench" forum at the top of the list.

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I see those rivers as I fly into Sacramento Airport. Never got up that way (From where I work in French Camp) to fish them.

Interesting information.

Welcome to the site, again.

 

Just as a suggestion for further posts. The "photography corner" is for pics "other than" flies, I believe. Pictures of flies go in "the fly tying bench" forum at the top of the list.

 

mikechell:

 

I always make it a habit to read the forum procedures very carefully before I post anything in a forum. Here is the forum criteria as posted by the webmaster/moderator:

 

Title: Photography Corner:

 

 

"Forum for the discussion of all things photography related. Flies, landscapes, equipment, post processing, techniques, etc. Does not have to be fly fishing/tying related"

I do not see where I made any mistakes here "photography related must include images. Correct me if I am wrong.

Don

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Nothing wrong in posting flies on this forum, Don. There are, however, more appropriate forums for this type of information.

 

There are members who don't look through every forum ... they just go to the ones that interest them the most.

They might not see your fly, since it's not posted in "The Fly Tying Bench" forum.

It was just a suggestion, not a rule or demand.

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Nothing wrong in posting flies on this forum, Don. There are, however, more appropriate forums for this type of information.

 

There are members who don't look through every forum ... they just go to the ones that interest them the most.

They might not see your fly, since it's not posted in "The Fly Tying Bench" forum.

It was just a suggestion, not a rule or demand.

wise words from wise man, thank you so much lord commander

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That's nice fly, little different from what we throw.

 

Our river is 70 yards wide and runs 900-2400cfs, if our dart is not weighted with a boat anchor it's not getting down to the fish 10+ feet down, missing 90% or so of the shad.

 

Our shad aren't eating on their runs. I am told, and don't know any different, that they are striking out of aggression. Blues worked well early season, then pink/chartreuse, and the last week red/white seemed to work.

 

My cell connection is working well, or I'd post a pic.

 

I use an Fuji waterproof point-n-shoot when I can remember to charge the battery. Even takes videos.

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Nothing wrong in posting flies on this forum, Don. There are, however, more appropriate forums for this type of information.

 

There are members who don't look through every forum ... they just go to the ones that interest them the most.

They might not see your fly, since it's not posted in "The Fly Tying Bench" forum.

It was just a suggestion, not a rule or demand.

wise words from wise man, thank you so much lord commander

 

Thank you !!! You're trying to be facetious, I know, but I'll take it as a true recognition of my status !!!

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