There’s just something special about Shad fishing at Johnson’s Beach on the Russian River. Maybe it the hot weather, warm water, and a bunch of great guys all telling fish lies in between fish. Or maybe it the drunks and bums that gather on the beach in the afternoon. Most people are detoured by this, Not us Shad folk, you might say were disturbed enough to enjoy watching them stagger around collecting rocks and falling on there face, or the rare concert we are lucky enough to catch, which warns are hearts with such hits as, “I’m going to r$#% you b%^#” and “I have a huge d$#@, it’s as thick as a brick” I’m telling you there going to pop the charts! Hahaha ha ha!!! Mildly put, but it all keeps us laughing.
The Shad line up at Johnsons, With the "Shad King" second in from the left
The fly that started my complete obsession with shad, is so simple, yet so deadly it shouldn’t even be fair. “The Silver Bitchin” Heavily used by one of the best Russian River Shad Fishermen, The Shad King, which has one entire box just dedicated to the Silver Bitchins! This name originated from a angler, who used the fly on his first day shad fishing, and after catching many fish he proceeded to say, “This fly is Freaking BITCHIN!”
Silver Bitchin, tied by Nick Wheeler
Now a wonderful thing about Shad fishing is that the more people that are around you the more fish are hooked, which makes everyone happy, and a great opportunity for insults to fly. I really love catching Shad but whats even better is when you can get some that’s never caught one before to hook one. Shad aren’t the biggest fish in the world, but they just go nutts when you hook’em. Their nick name is a Pour man’s Tarpon, and once you get one on it’s easy to see why. Another great thing about Shad is there basically the window licker of the fish world, lucky for us they don’t have a short bus to take them upstream. They Daisy chain around in the hole tell either the sun goes down or there’s enough discolor in the water to move in the day. All you have to do is get something shiny or sparkly in front of there face and they’ll hit it like a ton of bricks.
American Shad
On a good Shad year it’s not uncommon for a anger to hook 10-50 Shad a day. You can keep 25 shad, which is just disgusting, not necessarily the amount of fish but just they just smell something fierce, and have more bones then a boys high school locker room with a playboy . You might have better luck eating your fishing rod. Some people eat there Roe, but just no thank you. Half the anglers don’t even want to touch them. We try to shake them off before they get close enough to touch our waders.
Sunset at Johnson's Beach
Even if there’s a slow day of fishing you can’t beat the company, the great views, and the terrible jokes. I’ve found myself there almost every evening for the last month, and I couldn’t think of a better place to be! It’s an addiction almost as bad as Steelhead, but every other fish is just a fish between Steelhead! Stick Yes! Crazy Maybe! But just written the word Steelhead makes me Excited!!!!!! !!!
Jimmy Dean, "The Best Steelhead Guide in California's Coastal Rivers" with his first Shad!
Cool little Shad on my 4wt. with of course the Silver Bitchin
John Falk at Johnson's Beach, Guerneville Ca.
Yaking Fish 