Shad Fishing!
It was mid-March and time for the annual trip to fish the
Roanoke River for shad. Hickory shad who spend most of their time at
sea are making their way into freshwater to spawn this time of year. With only a small window of opportunity, we
put my son’s boat in the water for the first time of the season and tested its
performance the day before. With battery
charged, trailer tires aired up and gas in the tank, we left Cary, NC around 5:45am
the next day, in hopes of reaching the river at sunrise. Four rod and reels were already rigged with a chartreuse
grub worm trailed by a silver spoon. The hour and a half drive took us east on
US-64 then north up I-95. We were headed
to Weldon, NC, billed the “Rockfish Capital of the World” to launch the boat. The
day prior the water in the Roanoke had been raised, and the current went from 5,000
cfs to 15,000 cfs. The river would be
higher and swifter which might impact the fishing, but we wanted to give it a
try. Fishermen were catching them by the
hundreds before the water level increase.
We got on the water at about 8 am, a little later than
planned. The water was up, and the
current was swift, but numerous people were fishing from the bank and in boats
all around us. We didn’t have to travel
far from the ramp to find a perfect spot to anchor. Two of my sons and I were ready for the
challenge. At least they were ready to
fish. I had come along to watch the
action, count the number of fish caught, and take fish off the lines. As they casted to the shoreline, almost immediately
the rod tips were bending toward the water.
The females were large and full of eggs, and the smaller ones were the
males, prone to squirt semen out when grabbed.
It was all catch and release for us.
Some people may eat shad, but mostly they are caught for sport and
released or used as bait to catch catfish.
We were enjoying a fair amount of success, and I was kept busy taking
the hooks from the fish and throwing them back into the water. Then there was a small lapse in the catching
rhythm. They changed their lures to a
pink grub and gold spoon.
During the downtime, I lay back in the boat bottom and dozed
off to sleep. The sun was shining and
the waves hitting the side of the boat created a lapping noise that served as a
lullaby. But soon, once again, the sound
of the reel drag could be heard as more fish were being caught one after
another. The total fish count was
approaching 50 at this point. A “double” is when two fish are caught at the
same time, one on each lure, on the same rod.
Only one double had been caught, but still the day had been a huge achievement
and well worth the trip. Three hours had
flown by and all of us were getting tired and hungry. Get a few more then call
it a day was the consensus. We ended the
day with a count of 61, then loaded the boat up and headed to Ralph’s. Ralph’s is a local restaurant in Weldon serving
a homestyle buffet. There was barbeque,
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, slaw, macaroni and cheese, succotash, sweet
potatoes, hush puppies, and banana pudding to name a few of the items to choose. After
a satisfying lunch we headed back to Cary, having accomplished what we set out
to do.
Tammy Harvey
Written: 3/26/2023
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