Shad fishing from a kayak

Anyone fish for shad off a kayak before? I'd like to try and avoid the packed banks at the Bonneville dam this year. Techniques, equipment and location needed

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I'm all over that! There are some good spots below Bonneville if you can get away from the crowds. Good spots at the John Day Dam too...

So I hear...

True

I used to fish for skipjack shad on the ohio river with a medium light 7ft spinning rod and 1/8 oz rooster tails.  Worked pretty good there.  Might be worth a shot here.  good luck, and let me know how you do.

check out:

http://www.sschapterpsa.com/ramblings/Shad_fishing_at_bonneville_dam.htm

How and where do you do it from a kayak below Bonneville? Water flow is pretty fast just below the dam. Need an easy launch and paddle location.

John Day is another hour+ from Bonneville. Eh

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Catch em till your arms are tired on the Willamette.  Shoot me a PM come shad time and we will go beat up on them.

check out:

http://www.sschapterpsa.com/ramblings/Shad_fishing_at_bonneville_dam.htm

Awesome site...thanks

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Catch em till your arms are tired on the Willamette.  Shoot me a PM come shad time and we will go beat up on them.

Thanks for the invite. I will definitely hit you up.

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On a number of guided trips for oversize sturgeon,  the guides would target shad around mid day when the sturgeon bite would slow down.  Basically your catching what will be bait for the next days's clients.    Several would target the area  just off and between these two islands "don't know what their names are.   Depth was between 8 and 12 ft deep with a fair current just off of the islands.    Having no experience anchoring up with a Kayak,  not certain how it would go.  Was always very productive and no pressure from the bank but a good number of boats.    Typical setup was 3-way swivel with 2 oz of weight and little Dick Night lure hovering about a foot off of the bottom on a couple feet of leader.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=45.620881,-121.999269&gs_sm=12&gs_upl=0l0l0l3524l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1053

Never fished the Willamette before,  strong shad run going up it

Clackamette park on the Willamette is a good spot to launch/fish for em. Current isn't too bad come June there as long as there's not a big runoff happening at the time. If they're in, it won't a problem filling up a tank well/cooler/stringer/whatever.  I like using dick nites (smallest size), or micro curly tail grubs, chartreuse and/or pink are usually good bets

They stack up below the falls on the Willy. It's a good trip to bring your kiddos along, the action is usually pretty steady.

On a similar note does anyone know much about fishing for shad on the Umpqua?

When I used to go shad fishing with my dad from the banks below Bonniville, we just used the small unpainted darts with the gold hooks.  Couldn't keep them off the hooks.

But man, those fish stink! 

Wonder how they would work strapped to a 8oz. jig head sent down to Ling land?

how big are these fish?
the ones we caught on Logan Martin last year were only 1-2 inches long, were white and didn't live long in the live bait bucket. fact is they would die in like an hour and start falling apart......

so am wondering if these are a different species......

Shad in southern lakes are mostly threadfin shad (smaller ones) or gizzard shad (get to a couple of pounds). They form large schools and arean  important forage fish. The shad in the rivers are anadromous species called American shad and get up to about 8lbs although I think 3-5lbs is normal. The only thing big enough to munch those around here are sturgeon. When I lived in NC we used to throw a cast net for threadfin shad and then spend the night feeding the mosquitoes and catching some big catfish. I miss NC fishing