Garden State Trout

Looks like fun, would like to give it a try. I have a 5 weight switch rod that would be perfect with fast sink poly-leader.
Just don't know where a decent area is up north that is fairly close to the road/parking and safe to wade out.

cappy wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 23, 2022 1:30 pm

Looks like fun, would like to give it a try. I have a 5 weight switch rod that would be perfect with fast sink poly-leader.
Just don't know where a decent area is up north that is fairly close to the road/parking and safe to wade out.

There are far more areas than you might expect. Yes, it is a big river, but it breaks down just like any other smaller trout river. I fish the tailouts of pools near the deepest part of the channel (thalweg) and get down deep. The main pools on much of the big D are too deep for my style of fly fishing. But a full sink on a two hander should get you anywhere you need to be.

After an early start of the run, this terrible cold snap will delay things a bit. It is going to be about 20 degrees here tonight with highs in the 30s. I am away this week and look forward to shad fishing some more starting the weekend of April 8th!

martalus wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 28, 2022 12:58 pm

After an early start of the run, this terrible cold snap will delay things a bit. It is going to be about 20 degrees here tonight with highs in the 30s. I am away this week and look forward to shad fishing some more starting the weekend of April 8th!

Yup, water temps in the Delaware dropped from about 50 degrees into the upper 30s the other day. Cool nights for some time to come, but Thursday on will bring warmer afternoon temps. As soon as I see mid 50s, I'll head to the big D with the 7 weight.

So its the second half of April and hear in DC it is peak shad season on the Potomac! The bite was absolutely on fire over the Easter weekend-pretty much a strike every cast. Even though they were hickories, there were big (2-4 pounds I would guess) and fought like the devil-I think they were fresh from the salt water. As you can see, there are great rocky outcroppings from which to access the channel-that is what you need when shore fishing. Hope you all are getting some on the Big D too!

A typical plump, hard charging hickory from Easter Sunday.

Nice, Martalus. The big D has been mostly blown out. I fished it Friday with a buddy. He caught two bucks and I got the skunk. Water was off color, high, and full of debris plus a big front was moving in. After last night's rains, the shad may all run quickly past the Water Gap area where I have been fishing, but hopefully not.

It was blown out here last weekend and most of last week-I still tried on Sunday, Monday, and Wed and got the skunk-water was cold and turbid with debris as you described the Big D. I even slipped and fell into 50 degree waste deep water-that was a crummy 4 mile bike ride home...Thus the fishing on Saturday and Sunday was even more sweet when conditions were perfect and fishing turned on! Even my six year old daughter (in the photo) got in on the action! When the conditions are right, the shad will bite!

Even though the D was high and off-color last weekend they were catching them at the Riegelsville boat launch. So it's on! Usually by the 15th of April so it is right on track. Last year's fishing was just OK for me. Hopefully, this year's run is better.

Hope you all had some success this weekend! I got some buddies out that dont fish and was able to put them on the fish. I had to teach one guy how to cast but but once he got that down, the fish cooperated. Herring were also running this weekend and my kid doubled up several times with 10-12 inch herring which was exciting for her!

Any more shad reports from the Big D?