Shad

KHB · Veteran Member

Shad

lightfoot · Senior Member

I can comment on that from first hand experience.

Back in the 80's before I flyfished we had a wet winter that put a LOT of water over the top of the Glory Hole. The creek was pretty much blown out (rather brown and in the bushes/trees) but we still cought a lot of nice fish though not sure why or how. In the creek were thousands of dead fish ranging in size from a couple inches for a shad to 20+lbs for a carp. Each and every one of those fish had their heads ground off like somebody used a belt sander on them.

Our best guess at the time was that as fish were pulled into the Glory Hole they orientated themselves headfirst for the plunge. When they hit the elbow at the bottom they might have liked a little more water between them and the concrete.

I remember a fishing trip down by the rangers trailer (bait dunking) with Danny O and I think Bono. Fishing in the trees with a worm/ball combo and doing very well on some very nice fish. That was back in the 2lb test Diawa 500c days.

gawwwwd I'm getting old

bono · Master Fly Fishing Guide

Ahh those were the days,damn Rob we are gettin old,thanks for reminding me!!!One thing I need to clarify is Kieth mentioned shad coming from Lake Berryessa and going over the glory hole.Yes these are indeed shad but not the same shad we all catch that frequent the Sac river system.The shad in Berryessa to my knowledge are threadfin shad a small baitfish.Not all of the fish that get washed over the glory hole die in the process,some very nice largemouth and smallmouth bass enter the creek and some of them I've seen in the past will try to spawn in the spring time near the base of Monticello dam.I managed to catch a very nice 4lb smallmouth that I first thought was a german brown about 5 years ago.I do not know what eventually happens to these fish as they all seem to dissapear after a few months,good news for the trout I guess!

Old Grouch · Member

I remember that time very well also. Many of the bushes and trees downriver were decorated with dead fish. The first were dropping maggots into the creek. Needless to say the fly that was most successful was a small white bodied fly.