Any Shad in the rivers yet?

I caught one of these years ago and fancy having a crack at one with a fly rod.

TF

What's the legal position with twaite shad now?
I know allis shad are a protected species and you can't fish for them but I don't know about twaite shad.
I always wanted to try for them when I was ypoung but somehow I always missed the season. I remember seeoing a lot of dead shad floating down the Severn at Wainlodes at the start of the coarse fishing season.
If you can still fish for them , do you need a salmon licence?

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Old fishermen never die, they just smell that way.

I haven't heard any reports yet but we would normally expect the shad to appear in the Lower Wye in numbers in about another week.

I'm not sure about the legal position of twaite shad but I'm sure that there will be plenty of people fishing for them around Monmouth and few of them will have a licence at all. I don't think that a Migratory Fish licence is needed but a rod licence certainly is.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

There are now a few shad in the river.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Can you fish for the Shad on a day ticket?

If you can where from and how much.

WCB

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One of the best places to catch a shad without getting onto a salmon beat is where the Monnow runs into the Wye at Monmouth. It's technically a day ticket water owned by the local council but I cannot remember anyone collecting ticket money there for 30 years and it is known locally as the "free" water.

To get there park just off the slip road having exited the A40 just before the Gibraltar tunnels on the southbound side.

Walk down the right bank of the river facing downstream until it meets the Wye. You will usually find shad in the confluence and the first 50 yards of the Monnow upstream but take care not to stray into the Wye as it is the renowned Duke's water and you will not be welcome.

If there are no fish here it is worth looking in the pool below the 12th century Monnow Bridge about 1 km upstream which is still in the "free" stretch.

The only downside of this spot is that you will probably have some company.

It sometimes happens that a "blind eye" is turned to people shad fishing from the main Wye Bridge at Monmouth and, if so, you can join the hordes there. There are likely to be far more shad here and you should concentrate on the back eddy where it meets the main flow on the town side of the bridge although there will be shad in the flows from all of the arches except possibly the one furthest from the town.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Many thanks Sewinbasher.

TF

Cheers SB

Will try to get over next week.

WCB

__________________
http://devonschoolofflyfishing.com/ The BEST Fly fishing tuition guiding in Devon

http://funkyflytying.co.uk

Sewinbasher

Interesting to note your recommendation of the last bit of the Monnow. Do Shad travel very far up the rivers (like Salmon) or do they stop as soon as they find suitable spawning grounds?

TF

It was only because it is free water and I know that it's a good place to find them. The shad go a few miles up the Monnow but, like the salmon and sea trout, are currently stopped by an impassable weir about 3 miles up although the EA are taking it down this year to allow migratory fish access to the rest of the river. The Monmouth & District AS have most of the fishing between the free water and the weir and tickets are available in the town for about a tenner.

Some will tell you that shad run right up the river to the headwaters to spawn without feeding on the way and then are caught as they drop back after spawning, I think the eminent John Bailey has been heard to say this, but it is not true. I've also heard him say in defence of barbel that salmon only spawn in the upper reaches but this is also not true.

Unlike other migratory fish they will run on very low water levels and you can stand on some of the bridges and watch the shoals coming up through the shallows. They are very catchable as soon as they enter the river and are a positive nuisance when salmon fishing as they constantly "bump" the baits and flies, most of the time without getting hooked.

Shad will indeed go a long way up the Wye to at least as far as Builth Wells and also get into the Irfon and Ithon systems but I have watched them spawning below the bridge at Monmouth just 20 miles off the tide and have caught juveniles in a dip net there so, like salmon, they clearly spawn in many places on the river almost over its entire length.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary