Spring in Washington, DC brings the famous shad run to the Potomac River. Last year, my fishing buddy and I hit the run perfectly...catching American Shad nearly every cast. This time around, I tried to manage my expectations as my befuddled Uber driver headed toward Fletcher's Boathouse around 4am. A hard rain had been falling all night, but sure enough, the DC Shad Faithful were lined up in rain jackets with strong coffee.
DC's Shad Faithful gearing up in the middle of the night
A profile of grace
After piling in our rented row boat, we oared into the middle of the river and dropped anchor in the mist. After a few casts...we knew we'd hit the run perfectly again. With sinking lines and homemade shad darts, we quickly lost count of fish landed. Sore arms and big smiles abounded as we wondered aloud whether we were outfishing every other boat on the river.
Around mid-morning, we took mercy on the running shad. It's not often that we stop fishing on account of having caught too many...but the shad run can be just that ridiculous. Feeling confident, we headed for a quick lunch in Silver Spring, picked up the dog and a few compadres, and headed to the Gunpowder River in Maryland to try for a few trout.
Trout fishing was a whole new ballgame. We casted endlessly with nothing to show -- dry flies, nymps, streamers. Nothing would budge the fish in the high water. Toward the end of the afternoon, we each squeaked out a fish on a dark streamer tossed at the opposite bank.
Exhausted, we headed for the car and back to DC. We'd been fishing for what felt like 20 hours straight. The next morning, we'd both wake up sick...but still stoked!
Heading out for the second fishing adventure of the day
More problem solving required than for shad
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