To go without saying, this May has been an exceptional month for sport fishing here in New England. Thanks to a large influx in forage species, The Spring Striped Bass run has been one of the best we’ve seen in years. In addition to the excellent Striper fishing, our Trout and freshwater fishing has been fantastic too. However, mixed in with the great days on the water, have been some nasty weather patterns that have made it either difficult to get on the water or the forced fish out of their normal patterns making it more of a challenge to target them.
On these off weather days, I have made an effort to reach out to my network of talented friends and asked them to share some of their specialized fisheries with me. I can never get enough when it comes new species and with them a fresh set of new challenges. As my Co Capt Lou says, a new code to crack. After the successful Carp excursion with Dave Pickering, I began to get an itch for some of the other more exclusive species that our region has to offer.
I reached out to ECC Photo Ninja Erich Medenbach to get a shot at one of his favorite species, the American Shad. The fish are an Andronomous Species that are highly prized by light tackle and fly enthusiast alike. Having taken many Hickory Shad before, I figured this would be an easy transition in terms of style and strategy and I’d soon add another notch to the species belt.
Boy was I wrong LOL!
If I were asked to compare these fish to a more familiar species I’d say it was like a mix between: Native Trout, Carp and Tarpon fishing. The fish are extremely spooky and very difficult to approach like native trout, if you can see them at all, they won’t feed so your best bet is fishing the conditions making it more likely to hook up when you don’t see them, like Carp and when you hook up with one of these fish it’s like coming tight on a small Tarpon. Massive horizontal Arial displays, screaming drag runs and heavy head shakes.
Here’s how it went down, the weather was ass so I decided to chip away at the to do list around the house. Half way though digging some fence postholes, I began to receive some text messages from Erich, starting with “Come Shadding with me today!”
I then responded with a barrage of how much work I had to get done, the fact that I had the baby with me today ect. Then Erich sends me a video of him landing a nice fish. My interest peaked I begin to shoot him about 100 questions, basically trying to figure out the feasibility of this type of trip with my daughter in a backpack and likely hood of us even seeing one of this fish if I do go. Before I knew it Erich sends the text “I’m in your driveway now.”
LOL I guess I’m going then.
So I, dropped the posthole digger, threw together a quick light tackle set up, grab the tactical baby bag and Backpack and loaded the truck.
As we made the 2hr ride to get to E’s spot I was equally as excited, as I was flustered and skeptical of this last minute jaunt. Finally we arrive, to his way off the beaten path location. The area seemed appropriately as exclusive, as the fishery itself it reminded me of something you’d see out in Montana looking for big trout, only with a hint of brackish water.
Erich opens up a large fly box out of his cargo pocket and reveals to me a stunning selection custom tied jigs and flies, specifically designed to produce strikes from these finicky strikers. We tie them on, I place Angie in the backpack and we begin the long trek to where Erich believes the fish will be.
The steep embankments and slipper y terrain make the hike extremely difficult, but finally we arrive to the spot. Erich explains the technique that he has developed. It has taken him countless hours of trial and error to hone in. I pay attention, but in the back of my mind I’m saying to myself, yeah man were shad fishing I got it.
We spit up but within sight of each other and being the generous angler and ambassador to this species that he is, E lets me make about 30 different presentations. At first with his lure, fished “My way,” then I snuck in some of my hickory shad favorites, all to no avail.
So realizing that I’m clearly out of my element, I secure the jig behind one of eyes on the rod and hike up to watch my friend in his element.
Watching Erich dial in his approach made me realize just how sophisticated and “Touchy” this style really is. Just as I began to take note of his pattern of subtle movements, Wham he gets nailed by a nice “Roe”, that’s a large female in shad talk.
The fish made some large head shakes under the tea stained water revealing a gold flash of here large profile. Camera in Hand I quickly hit record and was able to capture the awesome battle right up to the landing and even with some neat underwater footage. I’ll post this vid later on.
I snapped a few stills of the fish, and then Erich quickly released her back into the water. His respect for the species was very evident in the way he handled them post landing. After humbly watching the program from start to finish, I was given a much better understanding of why it had taken so many trips for Erich to dial in the way he has.
Having tried it myself first hand, I can understand why many others simply give up on the fishery all together out of frustration. It’s basically sight fishing, but blind with no assurance that your bait is even in front of a fish at all. Just reading the water correctly, putting the right presentation in the right area and then having the patience of a stalking Heron.
After much trial and error I was finally able to get comfortable enough with the “touch” of the presentation and began producing some short strikes of my own. Shortly after getting schooled again as Erich released his third fish, I managed one to shore. We snapped a few pics with Mini me on my back and with that called it a day.
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| My Daughter Angelina "Future Fish Slayer" in tow! |
These Large members of the Shad Family are really tricky species, which require a lot of discipline and patience to master, but they’re a hell of a lot of fun on the right tackle. I have a lot more respect for the fishery now and for the dedication guys like Erich have put in to dial in on them. Definitely going to add this species to my spring repertoire!
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