Northwest Reel Life April 2023 Volume 2 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 8
The annual run of American
shad up the Columbia River
is building steam. Over a
100,000 shad a day are being
counted at the Bonneville
Dam fish ladder. Marc Bush,
owner of Twisted Waters
Guide Service, recently took
two clients shad fishing near
Beacon Rock State Park and
the two, Drew Monsey and
his father Martin, caught 104
shad in short order, with Drew
out fishing his dad by 11 fish.
If you would like to book a trip
with Bush you can go to his
Facebook page or his website
at
www.twistedwaters-gs.com.
watch
now
8 | NWFISHING.net
You don’t need to have
a guide to have success
catching shad. Two great
places to fish for them
from shore are just below
Bonneville Dam and also
below the John Day Dam.
Simply cast a 1/16-ounce jig or
shad dart and use anywhere
from ¼ to ½ ounce of lead
above it (depending on the
current).
Then, let it swing downstream
with the current and wait for
a bite before reeling in the jig
and casting again.
Shad typically run between
one and three pounds but
they are scrappy fighters
and fun to catch. Kids in
particular enjoy the nonstop action when the shad
run is going strong. The
state record for shad is a
3.85-pound specimen caught
by Tom Magnuson out of the
Columbia River in 2005.
Some anglers will keep the
shad to eat but others (myself
included), cut these fish in
half and use them for crab
bait. They are a very oily fish
and work very well when it
comes to attracting crabs.
Shad also work well as bait
for sturgeon fishing and for
catfish too.
John Kruse –
northwesternoutdoors.com
and
americaoutdoorsradio.com