Richmond Shad are running up the James! 2024

SimonSays reply :

Shad seems to be coming up the James, caught some hickories the other day, about 15-20. People were pulling up Perch 2-3-4-5 at a time with the sabiki rigs.

silver or gold 1 in spoons seem to be hot, my fly fishing bubby had a lot of luck with pink/purple fly.

Sam reply :

Yes, it is that time of the year to clog up Ancarrows with shad fishermen.

Hundreds all on the water in the Ancarrows area at the same time, along with the bank fishermen.

Dan, you go and let me know how you do.

Sam reply :

Opps!

Meant to say Simon.

my mistake.

Sorry. >

Dan: reply :

Simon, do you know if they are heading up the Rapp or Pmac yet?

SimonSays reply :

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Simon, do you know if they are heading up the Rapp or Pmac yet?

sorry Dan, not a clue =(

Sam reply :

It's Dan.

See?

Dan.

I was close. ;D ;D ;D

Dan: reply :

you were just too early, Sam. ;D

SimonSays reply :

If anyone is interested I'll be at the James around the 14th st bridge area shad fishing =D

hopefully the recent rain didn't mess things up too badly !

hokiefisherman93 reply :

any stripers being landed yet?

Sam reply :

Heading out next week to try my luck with the shad.

Will go during the week to avoid the thousands fishing for the shad. ;D

Vekol reply :

I've never fished for shad before, I'm thinking about doing it on Saturday @ the Rappahannock. Any tips?

VABasser reply :

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I've never fished for shad before, I'm thinking about doing it on Saturday @ the Rappahannock. Any tips?

d**n I'm jealous of you all. I'm hoping I can get away from VT soon for a weekend to slay some shad. I imagine it'll peak in the next week or two although I dont really know considering I'm not there. Vekol, the two main things I would recommend throwing are small 1 inch silver or gold spoons and shad darts. I've mainly thrown the silver spoons with good success. I'm sure you can get them at Gander or Dicks but I usually got mine at Kens Bait and Tackle off Rt 1 southbound (after the Rt 1 bridge over the Rapp, on your left side, mapquest if you dont know where it is). All the stores this time of year should have the darts and spoons so if you dont know what you're looking for ask someone and they'll know what you're talking about. I always put a few split shots above the spoon. The amount of weight you want and how far up your line depends. You just have to experiment and see whats working. I would recommend starting with 2 or 3 of that "average size" (1/8 oz i reckon) about 18 inches up your line and go from there. Mainly I would just cast out and retrieve with varying speeds. I know there are different variations and ways to catch them but this is my most proven method. I remember the first time I ever went me and a buddy caught around 40 each within 2 hours or so. Talking about this bums me out that I'm stuck here in Bburg . I'm in a bit of a hurry but if you want a few suggestions on where to go send me a PM

SimonSays reply :

VABasser hit it on the head, 1-1.5in silver or gold spoons. I use 6lb line tied to a 1/2oz trolling sinker with about 2-3 ft of mono leader. I feel that early in the season the longer leader helps but in the middle when it's really hot they'll slam anything. I watched a guy last year drop a polished silver hook straight down and got bit...

Also, I always put a small orange bead above my spoon, I don't know why but it seems to help a bit.

I was out on Sat and Sun practicing/fishing with the fly rod and my own hand tied flies!. Didn't hit as many as I would have with the spinning gear but it was mad fun !

There's also stripers mixed in on the James.

Here's a few =P

A.Do? reply :

Nice fish!!! You should just pick me up, take me fishing, and drive me home.

Aluma-Bass reply :

what part of the james??

rickster reply :

Fished the Potomac on Saturday, no Shad caught, but I did see a couple jumping. This rain should bring em up

armesjr reply :

I went today at ancarrows and caught 7 in about an hour on a yellow/orange shad dart

SimonSays reply :

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what part of the james??

14th street bridge area

Heya Armesjr, did you have a kayak? we should yak fish for them one day

Aluma-Bass reply :

thanks Simon! wheres the closest public ramp?

SimonSays reply :

For large boats the closest launch is at Anncarrow's Landing, bass boats and V-hulls etc launch here. At the peak of shad season parking here is horrible.

Googlemaps link to anncarrow's

If you're on a kayak or canoe you can launch from the 14th street bridge area, designed for kayakers/canoeist to launch.

Googlemaps link to 14th street bridge launch

hokiefisherman93 reply :

Simon, i have never really done much shad fishing, but i was wondering on pointers on where to look for them. i am heading out there this friday and hoping to land a few on fly and a spinning set up. any tips on where to look for the shad or stripers? or is anywhere you throw it usually going to produce?

SimonSays reply :

Right now I believe that they're staging right downriver of the 95 bridge according to some friends from orvis and greentop. Later on in a few more weeks they'll move up above the 95 near the 14th street bridge.

If you aren't on a boat you can try to bank fishing from ancarrows landing, it's really crowded there but you hit them pretty regularly as the river narrows in that area.

On my fly rod I was using small clouser looking flies both the stripers and shad will hit those it seems. The stripers don't seem to touch the silver/gold spoons

hokiefisherman93 reply :

you able to fish from a canoe around that area or is the current to swift?

SimonSays reply :

you'll be able to fish there on a canoe, bring a heavier anchor though, there's not much there to catch on it seems. The current still drags my yak around with a 3lb anchor.

hokiefisherman93 reply :

how big of a striper were you landing?

SimonSays reply :

Those were only maybe 2lbs? schoolie stripers, but I've heard of much bigger. Some friends of mine are in the masters/phD program in Fishery management/biology, they've caught huge striper coming up the james in gill nets. So large ones are out there!

Aluma-Bass reply :

Quote
For large boats the closest launch is at Anncarrow's Landing, bass boats and V-hulls etc launch here. At the peak of shad season parking here is horrible.
Googlemaps link to anncarrow's

If you're on a kayak or canoe you can launch from the 14th street bridge area, designed for kayakers/canoeist to launch.

Googlemaps link to 14th street bridge launch

thanks again i dont fish lower james much but been wanting to go, the map helped!

SimonSays reply :

I tried going yesterday afternoon...ancarrows was insanely packed... =(

hokiefisherman93 reply :

any signs on how much longer this shad run is going to last? aint going to be able to get out this week sadly but if its going on this time next week count me in

SimonSays reply :

Yea, they'll still be there in a month, I think during April is when it's really hot though so you might be getting the end of it, should still be fun though.

hokiefisherman93 reply :

was able to get out today and within twenty minutes caught a nice shad but no other shad following that. however my old man and myself hooked up with about a dozen catfish by the 95 bridge. not too bad for our two hours of fishing

SimonSays reply :

Nice! I was out on Ancarrows between classes, it was pretty slow for me, 6 in the morning and another 6 later in the afternoon. The weather is messing with us!

hokiefisherman93 reply :

the wind as unreal yesterday evening and although we were shorebound it was still messing with us pretty good. is being out in the main river channel better fishing than that from shore?

SimonSays reply :

I suppose it depends on how you look at it. If you're on the bank there's usually about 290348209384 people on the bank too...here's a peak of ancarrows on a weekday afternoon...

There are probably other places to fish along the James but the river narrows around this area which concentrates the fish. Many times people on the bank can catch just as many as people on the boat, it's just a hassle dealing with people and tangling lines and such.

As for being on a boat...boaters suffer the same problem, there are a TON of boats out on the weekend and a decent amount on the weekdays I've noticed, parking is horrible. Some of the boaters can be pretty reckless also. Possibly if you're in another large bass boat or V-hull it's a minor annoyance when you're hit by the wake of a passing boat, but us guys on the kayaks and canoes can get rocked around pretty hard. But atleast you'll be able to cast pretty freely without the worrying that the guy next to you only has a 1/4oz weight and when he casts the current will sweep his "bottom rig" down and snag about 6 other lines including yours

hokiefisherman93 reply :

ha well i must have lucked out being up higher than the public boat landing there off 95. we were one of maybe 6people shorebound but there were ridiculous amounts of kayaks mostly with a few jon boats. anyone hit the river this weekend?

SimonSays reply :

I'll be there sun afternoon! Look for a red hobie kayak with the idiot flailing the fly rod around. Come by and say hi =D

hokiefisherman93 reply :

ha not able to make it down sadly but best of luck to you and i hope the wind dies down so you can throw your fly rod ha

Chimborazo reply :

I went today for about an hour or so. Didn't hook up with any, and only saw two people catch one. The wind was annoying. I'll probably try for a bit tomorrow afternoon.

Link reply :

I plan on heading out tomorrow (even with rain) Any suggestions on where to fish from the shore that won't be too crowded and with parking? I've never done the whole shad thing but want to give it a go.

Chimborazo reply :

I went out today for two hours and didn't get squat. The water was very murky, moving fast, and there was a LOT of debris in the water. If you go south on 14th St. and cross the Mayo bridge (both spans), you can park on the right. Walk back toward the river, go down the path, and find yourself a spot. You'll probably see people down there. Good luck, and let us know how you do.

Micro reply :

Walker's Dam (Chick River) on the river side was bank to bank boats. You could see herring coming up through the fish ladder and occassionally over the spillage on the dam itself.

I fished the lake today. I caught two Hickory Shad on small crankbaits. Jumping little bastids.

SimonSays reply :

oy, I went out on the yak today...horrible, the current was insanely fast, hit nada, couldn't get my fly line down fast enough before it would swing straight out.

Link reply :

Will the rain today throw things off? I'm on Spring Break, and my buddy is off on Mondays and we were hoping to fish from shore from 11-3 today...Besides getting soaked, is this a bad idea?

Chimborazo reply :

You can try, but like I said, yesterday the water quality was awful, the current was fast, and there was a ton of debris. Worth a try if you have nothing else to do, but watch out for lightning. Severe thunderstorms and high winds are predicted for today. Might be okay by the time you get there though. Just watch Doppler carefully for the next hour or two and watch the air pressure.

SimonSays reply :

Go for it! try a 1oz sinker or 3/4 to get it down faster and hopefully you won't get swept down river too fast.

Chimborazo reply :

Quote
Go for it! try a 1oz sinker or 3/4 to get it down faster and hopefully you won't get swept down river too fast.

How far up from the dart (assuming that's what you're using)?

SimonSays reply :

I normally use spoons with a 2-3ft leader. I rarely use darts unless I see people catching them with a particular color, I don't like the way the main weight + the dart weight feels when I cast it =/ I've hooked myself so many times in the @ss with that set up ;D

I need to learn to cast

Link reply :

Got out there for a little bit, it was raining a bit throughout and then it cleared up. Only got about 2 hours in, but had fun. Started at the old docks, and then moved up to 14th street near the Canal wall. Got a catfish (little under 4lbs and 20in) on a shad dart.

SimonSays reply :

Nice catch Link!

Ended up going also, current was pretty swift. from 4-6 only caught 2, the fast current made the fight even more fun =D

Dan: reply :

I wish I could get to the tidal rivers to go for some shad. I saw guys pulling them out of the Rapp a couple years ago. Some of them were pretty darn big too. I saw a heron grab one that was probably the length of my forearm and gulp it down.

For those of you that are getting in on the shad action: post some pics! I'd love to see some of your catches.

Chimborazo reply :

Quote
Got out there for a little bit, it was raining a bit throughout and then it cleared up. Only got about 2 hours in, but had fun. Started at the old docks, and then moved up to 14th street near the Canal wall. Got a catfish (little under 4lbs and 20in) on a shad dart.

Really? How do you fish your shad dart?

Link reply :

Quote

Quote
Got out there for a little bit, it was raining a bit throughout and then it cleared up. Only got about 2 hours in, but had fun. Started at the old docks, and then moved up to 14th street near the Canal wall. Got a catfish (little under 4lbs and 20in) on a shad dart.

Really? How do you fish your shad dart?

Chim: Tied it to the line, through a slipshot up it about 18 inches and just played with the retrieval speed. No idea if I was doing it right now not..hahaha

Plan on heading out there again tomorrow after I do some yardwork...

Link reply :

Went out again today for a few hours, weather wasn't too bad but a bit windy.

This was caught just North of the Mayo Bride, in the rapid area as others were fishing in the calmer pools.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5126/fish09.jpg

SimonSays reply :

Nice fish!

Link reply :

Thanks Simon! I'm attempting to head out there again today and tomorrow if my wife will let me With getting back to work next week, and then two months without a weekend off (photography business) I won't have much time.

armesjr reply :

Anyone go yesterday. How did you do. Thinking about going this afternoon.

SimonSays reply :

Yesterday was a good day, hit about 6 in an hr, but this morning was even better...hit about 20 in 2 hrs

I'll be heading there in my kayak later this afternoon!

Link reply :

I was out there from about 9-1, and I must be the only guy that hit the river this morning and didn't get a single shad. Did get a bass though below the train tracks near that big concrete drain thing.

Boats, and yaks out this morning were pulling them in! A guy about 20 ft from me near Mayo Bride was killing it, I was getting skunked.

Might have been the last time I get out there for the shad fishing, too much on the agenda over the next few weeks, maybe I can sneak away one evening.

Jim

muck reply :

I had one of those days yesterday...everyone around me was catching them like crazy, and I didn't get a single bite. Went today, and caught over 10.

This is my first time fishing for shad...how much longer will they be out there?

SimonSays reply :

Gonna be there tomorrow morning on my kayak if anyone wants to join me!

armesjr reply :

Went out yesterday around 6ish for like an hour caught 4. 3 of which were pretty nice. Going to try to get out there again, sometime this week

Wayne P. reply :

I got a phone call late this morning from a friend that was catching shad on the Rapp near Fredericksburg along with his family. They were using spoons.

SimonSays reply :

My arm feels like it's about to fall off....must have hit 50+ on a silver spoon, on the bank since weather was too crazy. Fishing was good until the the tide started to come in. Then it seemed to die off...White perch and herring were going crazy though, people were pulling 6 herrings and/or perch up at once.

SimonSays reply :

Slammed the shad again yesterday on the yak and on the fly rod to boot. One cast after another....I couldn't lift my kayak up after swinging and fly rod around and fighting the fishing....also hooked into 6 or 7 American shad and some mutant white perch...one was about a ft long

I got some pics but it seems like when I catch them with the fly rod, it takes a bit longer to play them in and get them to up to the boat...so after I took the pics the fish weren't looking so hot...but here's just a fraction of the fish a caught!

Before and after shot of my poor mini-clouser =)

heyitskirby reply :

Anyone been since the last post? I'm gonna be in Richmond this weekend, trying to figure out what kind of fishing I want to do and wanted to know if they are still active.

SimonSays reply :

Yea, they'll definitely still be active this coming weekend

hokiefisherman93 reply :

how is the temp looking like? is it warm enough to wade out along the bank? or would i freeze ha

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