Shadered-new place, new species

Myself and Scott hit the road last week in search of Twaite Shad on the River Barrow at St Mullins. Having spoken about this trip last year we didn’t get around to it. So we made the late evening crossing to Belfast and drove down to the Republic during the night. It seems the fish arrived on the Wednesday, we got there at 5.45am on the Friday morning. The timing in this respect was just about right. Scott had his first fish at about 6am, I blanked after losing 5 in our first session.

I picked up some sound advice from a fella called Jay at the start of our first evening session that proved useful. I broke my duck and ended up having a great trip with 48 Shad from Friday evening to Sunday evening.

I didn’t manage a Shad on the fly but I did spend some time trying. For the most part the fish were deep and either near the far bank or mid channel. If I had dedicated a full session to this method I would probably have got a few, they would have gone well on the fly gear. A lot of the bank is not suitable for fly fishing  but it is certainly possible on some sections.

The river is tidal for about 40 miles and the transformation over the course of the larger tides is something else. The first set of big tides in May heralds the start of the Shad run. More general information about the species can be found here.

It is not advisable to park your car at most spots along the path over the top of the tide

The end of the road for the Shad as they are not able to pass this weir

I can’t say I liked the Tasmanian Devil to start with but it was certainly effective when I found out how to work with it. The most used lure on the river and I don’t suppose it pays to ignore local advice.

Never leave your waders in the digs!

Sometimes the spots on the fish were clearly defined

What you catching in there Scott?

 

It’s an interesting species, scenic venue and it was a sociable trip in terms of the people we met. 

40 hours with no sleep at the start of the trip, a minor car accident( sorry Scott) and 3 countries in a pair of slippers as a result of wet boots. We should be back next year for another crack at the Shad run. I'll  drive the next time, it's the least I can do. Thanks to Scott for some of these images.