fishingaddictsnorthwest.com

If you’re looking for a fun day of successful fishing you may want to consider shad fishing. Although not considered a good eating fish they are a fun fighting fish. With millions going over the dam each year it’s easy to have high number success days and even come home with sore arms. Shad also make excellent crab and sturgeon bait. Fishing from the bank you’re a limited on where to fish. The best fishing is found up at Bonneville. The technique used is simple and similar to drift fishing for steelhead and salmon. Using about a 10lb line run it down to a swivel. At the swivel attach a weight which will always vary depending on the current speed. You’ll have to make a few casts and adjust your weight from there. Make sure your lead never hits the bottom or you’ll soon find out how much gear you go through from snagging up on the rocky bottom. From the swivel and weight run about a 3 to 4 foot leader at 6-8lb. There are many different lures that can be used to catch shad but as you may find out the cheaper the set up the better because you can go through them. Shad darts in a 1/16oz is what the majority of fisherman will use. Colors vary but best success will be found on bright colors such as chartreuse. Although the river is large you don’t need to cast further than 30ft to catch shad. Cast slightly upstream and let your gear sink downstream until it comes to up a 45 degree downstream. At this point as long as your gear isn’t touching bottom do a slow retrieve. Almost all of you fish will be picked up as your gear is swinging in to shore. Fishing from a boat can be a challenge finding the fish at times even with millions of fish. There are many times when you can sit on anchor and watch boats right next to you using the same lure catch fish and you might not touch a single fish. The reason behind this is because these fish follow current seams upstream. Don’t sit on anchor and wait for the fish to find you. Look for water any where from 8ft to 12ft and keep moving until you’re able to get into the seam of fish and once in that seam get ready to have some fun. Run your main fishing line down to a three way swivel. The strength of your mainline won’t make a big difference to these fish. At the swivel run a dropper line about 2ft down to your lead. The size of your lead again will vary but you’ll want to make sure you’re on the bottom this time. Also coming off the swivel run a 3ft leader to your lure. Again many lures can be used as long as they are small and create a flash in the water. Dick nites in size 0 and size 1 have been found very successful.

Read original blog post