Shad in July

Hello all… I will be making my annual trip from NorCal back to my home in north Idaho. I have seen a lot of shad fishing videos in the Cascade Locks area. I’d love to try for some shad on the way through the area but I don’t know the exact timing of the shad run up there. Will there still be shad in that area or further up the rivers around the first week of July? Thanks!

the run is typically over around then but still a decent shot.  It is typically best now thru end of July.  But who knows the salmon are running super late this year and maybe shad are aswell.

You would be well past the peak at Cascade Locks.  If you're going to Idaho on 84 I'd suggest hitting the shad fields below the John Day dam. 

We typically cut through on 97 and come out at Biggs Junction since it shaves a few hours off of our trip. I was considering taking 5 to get to the Cascade Locks area but if they won’t be there I will stick to my usual route and try below the John Day. I have fished the Deschutes a couple times around Warm Springs and have done pretty well in the past.  Possible for the shad to be that far up by July or do they ever make it that far up the Deschutes?

I have fished the Deschutes a couple times around Warm Springs and have done pretty well in the past.

For shad?

If you're at Biggs anyway hit below the John Day dam.  You should still catch some shad, or at least have a better shot at them than Cascade Locks.

For Steelhead. I’ve never fished for Shad until last week on the Sacramento River and that was nearly a skunk. I did catch two Largemouth bass early but nothing after that.

Will you be kayak fishing? I am looking at old pix and found a trip we took on June 27, 2017 for shad just below McNary dam. We launched on the Washington side (Plymouth Park?) and fished the seams working up river towards the dam. We trolled shad darts behind diving plugs to get them down a bit and just worked them back and forth.

I’m not sure if I will have a kayak with me or not when we head up north. I just bought a used kayak this evening since I don’t have any of my kayaks down here in Ca. I will eventually add it to my family’s fleet at our place in Idaho. My plan is to start up a kayak rental with kayaks that are completely setup for fishing once I move back up there permanently. That is a story for a different thread though… I am probably going to take a day off this week and hit the American River down here and hopefully kind of figure out how to catch them before we take off for our trip in a few weeks. This is off topic for the Shad fishing but our the salmon running up the Columbia right now and if they are is the season open this year for you guys?

This is off topic for the Shad fishing but our the salmon running up the Columbia right now and if they are is the season open this year for you guys?

Yes and yes.