Cold and dirty water shut down the shad bite for most of the 46 entrants in last weekend's thirteenth annual Sacramento River Shad Derby held at Scotty's Landing. The influx of off-color water meant that most anglers got only a fish or two, and some were completely skunked.
Top honors were taken for the second year in a row by Ronnie Garske of Chico, with a very modest-size shad weighing 2-14. The big fish hit on a chartreuse/red fly fished upstream from Scotty's. Garske took home a fly rod and reel combo donated by Chico Fly Shop.
Runner-up Eric LoSoya of Hamilton City ran all the way down below Princeton to bag his 2-12 fish. In third place was Ron Lorenzo of Princeton, who also bagged his 2-10 in the vicinity of Princeton.
The Ladies Division was topped by 17-year old Ariel Yale of Chico with a 2-5 shad, and the Catch-and-Release Division had Mike Wallace of Chico letting a 1-9 fish go back. The Junior Division did not have any fish weighed in.
Local custom fishing rod builder Jim Clarkson of Chico's Raptor Rod Works observed, "We really struggled today, the water was very off-color with only 18 inches of visibility. Most areas that we fished had water temperatures of around 61 degrees until we got above Stony Creek. Up there we found some 63 degree temperatures, which is what I feel to be the magic number for shad."
The event was a fundraiser for "Casting for Recovery", which is a program helping breast cancer survivors learn fly-fishing as part of the recovery process. Organizer Rebecca Weaver said, "We had perfect weather and a great bunch of anglers. The fishing was a little slow, but I would count this as a big success."
Excellent numbers of shad are on tap for Sacramento River anglers in the stretch of water from Woodson Bridge to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam, reported local guide Kevin Brock. "The shad are really stacked up right at Woodson Bridge", observed Brock. "You could even go just a little way below Woodson Bridge with a prop boat and catch a bunch of shad. The fish are mixed sizes, with some larger females up to four pounds."
Brock tipped, "When the water......
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