Shad Slayfest on the Willy !

Me and a buddy went out Sunday for our annual shad fest.  In years past, we anchored a big boat in the shad-rack on the Columbia..but this year we took to the kayaks, and stayed local.  I went out saturday, and it was pretty slow, seeing 1 or 2 fish here and there.  Sunday was about the same for most of the 20+ boats that were around us.  My buddy Troy was anchored, and I tied up to him, only to watch him land about 8 fish or so, and i never touched a one, in the first 2 hours.  Then we moved, paid more attention to the fish finder, and  after hooking a few while jigging...we decided to lengthen our droppers to 7', extended our leader to about the same...targeting those fish we could see suspended around 15 ' while in 21 FOW.  We put on a half gold/half silver dick nite, and all of sudden we were killing them, we stayed for hours, fish after fish, double after double.  We ended the day with 80 Shad, coolers full, and the kayaks very heavy for the pedal back to the dock !  We are set for crab and sturgeon bait, and and ready to make a pile of smoked and canned shad..which if you haven't had it...it is amazing.  Here is a shot as well, of some roe we cooked up, and it too, was delicious!

It's a great fishery, I highly recommend getting out and getting after them, and saving a few to eat as well!

Nice, great report! The high water has put me off my game a bit; I've been catching but not at the pace I want to. Thanks for the tips on dropper length!

I know that the traditional use of shad roe is to fry it up.  But have any of you made caviar out of shad roe?

Nice, yakfish! I fry shad roe with wrapped applewood smoked bacon. If you're interested, PM me if you'd like three good recipes for canning.

Nice work!  I'm gonna have to get off my butt and chase some of these.

-Mark-