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I decided to brave the wind and hit Occoquan for some shad today. The water was pretty brown and the tide was going out when I got on the water about 10:15am. Air temps were nice, going from the 40's to about 70 degrees, with 10-20 mph West winds. It started out very slow for me. Nobody was catching anything for a while. Finally, a guy from shore caught a couple. I got a couple bumps, but did not hook a fish. Then, a couple old timers started catching a few on what looked like single shad dart setups. I finally hooked my first fish after lunch on a pink jig head with a small while curly tail above a shad dart. It fought really well and measured 18 inches.
I hooked a 16 incher on the same jig within 20 minutes.
I hooked another shad that jumped two feet in the air twice before getting off. It slowed down at low tide around 1:30pm. I caught another 16 incher a little after 2pm.
There were a few boats and kayaks that came and left while I was there. A couple more showed up before I left. One guy came in kind of fast and anchored in the middle right before the foot bridge and anchored. He was pretty rough looking with no teeth. He started catching a few with a single rig and seemed to be keeping them. I saw him catch at least 4 or 5 before I left and all stayed in his boat. I ended up calling it in to VDGIF, but the guy was too far away and it was about an hour after I left that I called. Lots of cormorants eating and I saw an Osprey catch one too. It should be on by next week. Fish seemed hesitant to bite, but I was sucking anyway. I had fun and was off the water by 3:00pm.
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drxfish wrote:
One guy came in kind of fast and anchored in the middle right before the foot bridge and anchored. He was pretty rough looking with no teeth. He started catching a few with a single rig and seemed to be keeping them. I saw him catch at least 4 or 5 before I left and all stayed in his boat. I ended up calling it in to VDGIF, but the guy was too far away and it was about an hour after I left that I called.
Believe it or not, he can keep them. VA allows it but you can't out in the Potomac.
He was there yesterday...kinda oblivious to everyone else. But he can catch 'em for sure.
Glad you scored a few....
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not that I've eaten any, but I hear they are really boney. I personally just hope people take what they can eat and eat it! I've seen too many trash cans filled with dead gar and carp. Never understood the purpose of killing and wasting. ps. Gonna partake in the shad gala for wounded hero's with a few friends. One of my friends is a gold star father and I thought this would be a nice way to get him out there.
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I bought one at a store years ago and tried broiling it. Bad choice, so happy to release them when in VA waters. It seems smoking would be the best option if you had to eat a shad.
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I'm sure the guy's after the roe and not the meat - unless he's making stock
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