Shad Fishing 101

"You fish Year round"? I always liked to see the look on peoples faces when I tell them that we fish 12 months out of the year. part of the beauty of living where we do is that we have legitimate fishing opportunities available to us all year. One of those opportunities are Shad. If you have never fished for Shad before let me tell you, you are missing out on an awesome fishery! If you want to take advantage of this fishery, but don't know where to start let me suggest "Irish Flies" Shad Fishing 101. I just got the information from the venue and the dates are a go so I can finalize all of the details. I am running 2 classes with 6 people in each class. My goal is to give everybody the best experience I can, I will have help while we are on the river, but I believe more than 6 would be a stretch. Here are the details...

O'Neills Irish Flies Shad School
Class one is Saturday April 18 th
Class 2 is Sunday April 19th

Each class will meet at 10.00 am. I will present a 45 min / one hour slideshow that will cover species, locations, gear, techniques and flies. I hope this will spur on a question and answer session. After that we will tie a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 4 of my favorite Shad flies. (the number of flies we tie will depend on how we are doing on time)  We will break for lunch and then head to the river to fish out the evening. (The un-official start to Shad season is usually the 15 th of April. I have purposefully set the dates up early in the season so after class you will have the entire rest of the season to put your new found knowledge to task). O'Neills Irish Flies will provide a coffee and doughnut type breakfast, lunch and all of the tying materials for the tying portion of the class as well as the slideshow. Cost for the entire day is $100.00 / person. 

For the tying portion of the class you will need to provide a vise, bobbin with thread (any 6/0 light color thread will do) bodkin, scissors, and a dubbing twister. A light for your vise is recommended, but not necessary. You will also be responsible for providing all of the appropriate fishing gear including rod, reel, line, waders and boots and fishing license. You can fish the flies we tie in class and I will have custom flies available for sale during the "classroom" portion of the day. For a detailed list of the gear needed or to sign up for the class please use the links or phone number at the bottom of the page to contact me. 

If you don't fish the winter months Shad fishing is a great way to shake the "shack nasties" and knock the rust off after a long winter (especially this one). If the run is strong, and I believe it will be, it is also a great way to catch a bunch of hard fighting, jumping, beautiful fish. My hopes are this class will give you the tools necessary to start you down the path of being an obsessed Shad fisherman like I am. I hope to see you in class. Till next time...

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