FLY FISHING  

Spring

To chase the eternal spring… wouldn’t that be nice. Hands down the best time of year to fish for everything that swims. The fish are just waking up and so should you. Just as the weather breaks as water temps hit that 50 degree mark things come to life like a scene from Planet Earth. The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are home to countless species of fish that ascend the rivers on a spawning journey similar to Salmon. When the hordes of American Shad, Hickory Shad and river herring enter the rivers they aim to please. Slashing at flies with reckless abandon. Then lets not forget about the predators like the striped bass and giant blue catfish hot on the shad and herring’s tails. The Washington DC area is a pinch point where the river narrows and it’s a fish orgy of epic proportions. Everything you could possibly think of is there feasting on the bounty. George Washington once said the river runs silver with all the fish and it’s still that way today. Just to whiteness it is worth the price of admission. Let me show you around during the shad run with the opportunity for double even triple digit hook ups on a days outing on light fly rods in the 5 to 8wt range equipped with sinking lines and two shad flies tied in tandem often resulting in a double hook up at once. It’s a fly and light tackle fisherman’s dream to tangle with the hard fighting Potomac bonefish or tarpon… another name of the numerous Hickory Shad and robust American shad. The shear biomass in the river in April is something not seen anywhere. The hickory shad cousin, the American Shad is struggling to survive in all the other rivers on the east coast except the Potomac River. The Potomac has had healthy American, aka white shad runs every year for the last decade and these fish can grow to 5 pounds or more. The Potomac in Washington D.C. is arguably one of the greatest places in the country for numbers and size of American and Hickory Shad. They are a blast on a fly rod and ideal for the new or well experienced fly fisherman.