| May 12, 2008 |
Over the past week the shad fishing got progressively better with the improving water
quality. Shoreline anglers at Rocks Village enjoyed some terrific action from the high tide to the ebb. Most spin anglers were using a ½ oz. egg sinker with a gold willow leaf dropper 16-24 inches from a bead and swivel. Also, standard shad darts rigged similarly work nearly as well. Later in the week, as the high water levels returned to more normal levels, the shad moved out from shore and out of reach of the shore anglers with the dropping tide. The boat anglers who figured out “where to park” and “when to move” as the water depth changed also did well. The shad should begin to peak this week and into next week. Look for the action to pick up as well and don’t be surprised to see some bigger hens (some that should come near 10 pounds) in the mix. There were reports of a few small Atlantic salmon being caught incidental to shad. Also, a small sturgeon (not sure if it was fair hooked) was landed and released at Rocks Village last Thursday. Anglers upriver at N. Andover also reported excellent shad action with an occasional small striper mixed in to add to the excitement.  The striper fishing at Candy House flat also improved during last week. Steve P. and I had multiple fish days from Wednesday thru Sunday and we both enjoyed a few fish that exceeded 26 inches with Steve landing one just under 30 inches. The action is not fast, but steady. Expect the striper fishing to improve steadily as we move into mid May. The good level of bait fish in Little River should draw in some even bigger fish over the course of this week. Most of our fish were taken from the mud flat on the dropping tide on flies, topwaters and jig heads tipped soft plastic tails. This week, the best times to fish will be; late morning at the flat/channel edge with the dropping tide and late afternoon along the grassy bank on the rising tide.
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