An American Heritage

Shad fishing on the Big D is an American heritage. Today, shad generally can run between 2-6lbs, occassionally topping over 8lbs. Pre-spawning fish can generally be caught betweeen Mid-April & Mid -June depending upon many varriables such as water tempuratures and water levels. Schools can be found near bottleneck areas, deep channels and shallow gravel areas with lots of current. The best lures are a varrity of spoons, spinners, shad darts and jiggs. The best flies to use are heavily weighted wet flys, nymphs and streamers. They are commonly caught from the shoreline but fishing from a boat is the absolute best.