Umpqua shad report?

plumbertom
plumbertom
Isn't it about that time?
 
T
TimberTodd
I talked to my brother Sunday. He fished Saturday and saw only 3 caught out of a long line of anglers.
 
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plumbertom
plumbertom
Thanks. I been thinking about going south to try, but I think I'll wait until it picks up a bit.
 
plumbertom
plumbertom

I was told to tie the jigs directly to the mainline, no leader, and use a small weight just below the jigs.
I essentially ended up drifting the jigs as if I were fishing for steelhead.
I'll be looking into making up some pre-tied leaders in this style.
I intend to fish with either a 6 or 8 Lb. main line likely with 4 Lb for the jig leaders and 2 Lb for the sinker leader.
How does that plan seem?
 
M
montym
Tom, I tried this rig at Clackamette Park, lost gear almost every cast. Spoke to a few folks catching a lot, they were drifting 1/16 jigs at the end of a long leader. I switched my set-up and started getting fish. I'm really lousy at sorting gear, so as a norm I almost exclusively use 20 lb braid main line with 8lb fluoro leader, works for shad. I did change up my rods, from Steelhead rod when I wanted to fill my freezer to ultra light when i wanted to have fun and they were a blast with light rods and a loose drag.

Mostly I used slinky type weights, I seemed to lose less of them.

Another 3 weeks for Willamette probably, can't wait.

Cheers
Monty
 
plumbertom
plumbertom
I'm a firm believer in using the lightest rigs I feel I can get away with.
If I land a fish on a heavy rig I never feel I got the best of the fish or gave it the best shot at beating me.
One of the reasons I'll be using a very light sinker lead is to protect the jigs from loss.
Losing lead on rocky bottoms is just par for river fishing, IMO.
I Haven't got into making slinky's as of yet.
But thanks for your input.
I'll be more prepared to switch tactics the more information and ideas I get.
This is a learning process for me.
 
T
the_intimidator03
I will go out this afternoon on the Umpqua and see how it is going. I use 1/16th to 1/32 oz jigheads on my mainline with one or two small split shot about 12-16 inches above. Just enough to tic bottom.. Will post a report in the Other Species group later. Plumbertom, Feel free to write if you have any questions. I know the shad are trickling in up north.
 
plumbertom
plumbertom
I did go out for a while yesterday afternoon. I hooked up one fish, but he tossed the jig on a leap before I got it close enough to tell if it was a shad or a bass, which I know are abundant there by the Yellow Creek boat launch, which is where I was fishing.
It was quite warm yesterday and I should have worn shorts to wade rather than my hip boots. I would have been more comfortable and able to wade further out.
I noticed people fishing both up and down river from where I was.
I was attempting to fish the tail out from the rapid just at the boat launch. I've seen a number of fish caught there last year but the water was a lot lower.
I probably would have done better in calmer water but the climb to the water from the road was daunting for 65 year old fat man.
 

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