american shad and stripers...

[Keith83]

When do these fish make it up to fletchers???

also just curious - does the gizzard shad stay in the river all year round???

btw I was a half mile up stream from fletchers yesterday catchin the hicks consistantly from 3:00 to about 7:30 on a small silver spoon. My friend was using a red and white dart and did great to but the spoon was more productive.

[AlexT]

The Americans will be there soon...probably within a week or so. Stripers are there now...saw a few big ones rolling when I was on the river Sunday. I believe the gizzards are just here to spawn, but frankly I never payed much attention to their lifecycle given that they are not a gamefish.

[Flying Fish]

If they are upstream of Fletcher's they are at Fletcher's, and they are.

I think the gizzard shad are resident in the river and we tend to catch them now because they are thick near shore spawning, but I'll see if I can get you better information.

FF

[Keith83]

Yeah, I meant when do they make it to fletchers in general like within the area. I would love to hook into some stripers and americans.


I JUST got back from the chain bridge and the hickory shad were EVERYWHERE. I was catching 3 and 4 in a row over and over again. It was great. I was using an ultra ultra light rod and the stress from the reel while having a fish on was starting to crack the top piece of the rod that screws the reel in! I was with 2 other people and we each caught over 25 hicks. What a day![grin]

[HJS]

American shad are pretty much a rare catch from shore. You can catch a few more out in a boat but its still very slim pickens at Fletchers or CB for Americans.

Stripers can be caught in the Fletchers/CB area from now up to July 1st. But striper action in the area is VERY hit or miss. One of my better trips to CB for stripers was on June 27, 2004, which is very late. But each year is different. Last spring I only caught only a few and they were mostly 12"-17".

[Flying Fish]

Keith: Most years I figure it's worth trying for shad at Fletcher's the last few days of March--obviously, the river wasn't anywhere near fishable this year at that time--and they usually stay around until at least the first week of May. The big stripers arrive about the same time or slightly later, I think catchable mainly from boats and on bait. The smaller ones show up a bit later than that and can be caught on a fly rod from shore on poppers at first light.

FF