Pacemaker Fishing Forum

mjuarez · Apr-20-14 6:00AM

Steve,Andy and I decided to hit Occoquan for Shad. We got there at 9am and stayed until 2pm. There was shad everywhere up river near the dam. It was a lot of fun catching shad on light tackle all day. I also manage to land a 5 lb catfish on light tackle which took me for a ride for about 5 minutes :-) .

We used dart lures and crappie jigs .

launch area

Average side was about 14 inches

my first one.

catfish

Steve

Andy

Last edited by mjuarez (Apr-20-14 7:54AM)

Bryan · Apr-21-14 5:43AM

Thanks for the report, sounds like a fun day!

Ernie · Apr-21-14 5:45AM

Nothing like going on a ride in a yak.....well done!

firemunkee · Apr-21-14 9:39AM

Great job! How did you rig the darts/jigs? I'm trying to get into this shad fishing thing

kidnikarus · Apr-21-14 5:54PM

ood work! I had a pretty similar experience the saturday before. Got an 8 lb cat on a dart right at the footbridge plus 3 shad. Funny thing is that all my shad where on trout magnets.

mjuarez · Apr-21-14 6:51PM

We were mainly throwing a 1/4 oz dart in orange/red and yellow/red

firemunkee · Apr-21-14 7:06PM

Thanks!

AndrewDo124 · Apr-22-14 7:02AM

awesome report!

I wanted to try and get out there this weekend. Anyone going out there?!?!? I need pointers. never been shad fishing.

Bruce · Apr-23-14 2:17AM

AndrewDo124 wrote:
awesome report!

I wanted to try and get out there this weekend. Anyone going out there?!?!? I need pointers. never been shad fishing.

Went there on Monday. Lots of hickory shad being caught on either chartreuse or bright pink or white shad darts. Three-way swivel tandem rig with two different colored darts seems to work best. Use a slightly shorter drop leader on the heavier of the darts.

Can launch from the Occoquan Regional Park ($4 fee for kayaks) just off of Rte. 123. Easy paddle from there upstream to the best shad holding areas. Fish from about 200 yds south of where the walking bridge crosses the river up to where the water is coming in from the dam. On Monday, the best spots were from the walking bridge downstream...sitting on the flat on the NE side and casting into the channel near the NW side. Allow about a 5 count and then begin a moderate speed retrieve with a few twitches thrown in.

Fish sometimes collect just below the waterfall at the walking bridge. You can see the waterfall in one of the pictures earlier in this thread. Overall, this stretch of river is narrow and it will get crowded when some of the bigger boats show up there. And many people also fish from the shoreline so it can be difficult to find an area to safely cast to.

Shad are strictly catch and release so please handle them carefully.

Bruce

Last edited by Bruce (Apr-23-14 2:18AM)

AndrewDo124 · Apr-23-14 5:20AM

sounds like i should avoid going on a weekend...especially one with nice weather.

Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it.

Last edited by AndrewDo124 (Apr-23-14 5:20AM)

BillyBigMouth · Apr-23-14 8:15AM

I may give it a shot Saturday evening or Sunday morning but I also have never gone shad fishing!

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 Apr-20-14 6:00AM

Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#2 Apr-21-14 5:43AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#3 Apr-21-14 5:45AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#4 Apr-21-14 9:39AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#5 Apr-21-14 5:54PM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#6 Apr-21-14 6:51PM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#7 Apr-21-14 7:06PM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#8 Apr-22-14 7:02AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#9 Apr-23-14 2:17AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

AndrewDo124 wrote:

#10 Apr-23-14 5:20AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

#11 Apr-23-14 8:15AM

Re: Saturday 4/19 first kayak fishing trip of year - Shad Run at Occoquan

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