Nova Scotia Fishing Forum banner
81 - 98 of 98 Posts
Discussion starter · #82 ·
Will be heading down tommorrowthe game is using the sun to push the spawners down to were we can catch them easier. BBq at park a;lways extra meat on the grill. Nice to meet Dono, hope you had as much fun as Darcy. He told me at lunch It was a blast up there,If things go south on the point i'll be playing the Nixtau game. Ran into a lady and son on Wed . Three years ago on a lonely river ,me being the only one sampling its fare the two boys walked up on me as i was doing usuall one after another up by the old bridge. They joined me with there mom and I geared them up with what was working and She caught her first shad ever. After that they always hook up with me if I go up there. :D
 
Went to Enfield for a late afternoon shad trip. The river was boiling with fish. Started fly fishing from the bank with a pink shad fly. Was catching small males every 4th or 5th cast. Couldn't catch anything other than small males so decided to head out in my float tube. The river is wide and slow moving at this particular spot in Enfield so it was perfect for the float tube. First cast, big female. Started catching big males and the odd big female. My catch rate slowed down to about 1 fish every 10 casts until I put on a mini shad dart, which was perfect for the fly rod. Catch rate went back up to 1 fish for every 5 casts. The takes were mainly slow, not the usual smashing the fly that happens earlier in the shad season. Heading to Middleton for 4 days from Monday. Anyone have updates from Middleton?
 
Discussion starter · #85 ·
Was at Middleton yesterday. Arrived at 5:45am driving thru pea soup fog for 20mins on the way there. The fishing was slow at the point 1 ever 6 casts or so, so I told my friend Dwain I 'll be heading up the nixtau to my June spot he said I'm headsing to Tim so I gave my order and sliped away from the group of fishers there. Got to the spot and another friend Jeff and his sons were already there . They made a spotr for me and told me they already landed 40 betwen the 3 of them . I jumped in landed 10 went for my coffee, wasn't there, went back up another 5 ,back to the point picked up coffee. Told Dwaingoing back up with a smile. 3 of us were hooked up as he walked up and said make room. We did . He hooked up on a few could not get the swing right on the skiny river fish.Grumbled at me but not ther others :D Ps he lived there for 20y never new about this spot,i was shown it by two local boys 3 years ago. We all left and I headed down to the park set up the BBQ. I headed up to the point in the pm alone and fished at the point. Landed 2 soon as i arrived and then one evry 8 casts after then i would get 2 or3 in a row it was slow and a ton of fish in what i call a false spawn mode , just bunching up andd swimming close to the surface with a few jumping. Left arm was getting pian full and I was fishing with a bunch of Chines ethnic, who were rockies.I tried many times to warn them how close they were fishing to a 11 ft drop offand one of there daughters laughed her head off as i hooked a fish right at there feet. I wa coaching her on her casting. There was a 8 year old fishing behind me in he Nixtau. I was in the slot and when I hooked up on a big one I walked over and gave him the rod to play the fish. He had a blast and his dad was so proud of him playing it and landing it. :D it was still slow so i headed down stream to the 100ft mass of fish and hooked up many times but only landed one on a fly. They seemed to be hiiting that tiny pink thing. at 6;15 the torn rotator said enough and I left.25 fish am 20 landed pm Will be heading down Mon AM fish ie tommorrow. :lol:
 
Discussion starter · #86 ·
My early am report today from Middleton , Darcy and iI hit the river atv 5:50am and we meet up with a fellow fisher and Scottish Fly whom was in the slot flyfishing,I stepped in the large space between them . Made a cast no hit :huh: Tried another spot of boiling water filled with Shad Fish on :D For 3hrs it was for myself with my special jig and fly combo nonstop hook ups as the Nixtau dumped another what I estimate as 5000 fish when they increased the water flow.. In the middle of this I armed another fisher who was having slow fishing one of my specials He started getting fish.What a great am fished to 10:30 packed it in Darcy decided to switch to a rod and I armed him and he started to catch them. Scotty fly was over in the slot and was hitting some fish to on thr fly in the early am. After he left Darcy jumbed inand was scored 10 more there on fly My self Hooked up over 80 landed 45. the Shoulder let me know at 9:30 it was time to slow down so I did Alot of Big Females caught and released. No many small males all a good size :D . Will be heading down Fri am again :ph34r:
 
Great morning shad fishing in Middleton. Hit the river just after first light and was into fish quickly. Started out using a pink fly: chenille body, weighted bead eyes and a fluorescent tail. Lots of water (and fish) coming down from the Nictaux so a fast sinking leader was a must. The shad were taking the fly gently, almost always during the swing. Lost as many as I caught, probably due to striking harder than I needed to. After the 1st hour I switched to a chartreuse fly, with a similar head, body and tail. This was definitely the colour of the day. S. Jollymore joined the party about an hour after first light. He really is the "Shad Whisperer". He was catching more than the rest of us using a shad dart he called "The Green Thing" in tandem with a pink fly. I packed it in around 9:15 as it was already getting really hot. I headed back out in the evening but the fishing was much slower. I was only getting a fish about one in 20 casts. The water had dropped about a foot compared to the morning and there was little in the way of current, making it difficult to get a nice swing on the fly. Will be heading back out at first light tomorrow.
 
Just had my best morning ever fishing for shad in Middleton :D I headed to the point at 5:15am and was the only one there for about an hour. Two large schools kept swimming up the Annapolis to the confluence, turning around and heading back down the Annapolis for about 100m and repeating this over and over. I started out with a chartreuse fly (single black bead head, chenille body and fluorescent tail) until the shad ripped it to shreds. Switched to an identical fly but orange. After about 45 mins, the shad had ripped this one to shreds too. My catch rate slowed down when I was forced to switch to a pink fritz. It worked but only 1 fish every 8-10 casts or so. Later on, I switched to a mini shad dart and my hook up rate improved again. Yesterday, the fish were taking the fly on the swing but today I needed to use a medium paced stripping action. I stayed on the river until about 10:45am. At the end of the session, I had landed 47 and lost 19. I know this isn't a huge number for many but for me with the fly rod, this was a big deal. Might head back out for a late evening session but the action never seems to be as good in the evening compared to first light.
 
Discussion starter · #89 ·
Thanks for the update Scottish Fly looks like you had an awsome am. The pm fishing down river on the strait run to the bridge is a good option. There was a massive school there in the early evening laqt Sun.Also go up the Nixtau to the corner and hit that if the point is slow again. I will be heading down Fri Am only then on the weekend . Only ams seem to be the charm this year. Lets hope the Nixtau June run start. Checked a local river today and its the first time gasperu are in the river this year so there real late to.Years past they would turn on the water in the Nixtau in the later afternoon and it would be fast and furious to the third week of June in the evening fish(wh :ph34r: ere you were fishing in the slot today) Good luck on the pm fish.
 
Very quiet evening session in Middleton. Spent two hours fly fishing on the river (7-9pm). I tried the straight stretch to the bridge with only one landed. Caught nothing in the Nictaux. Went back to my favourite spot (the slot at the confluence of the two rivers) and managed to land 5 with 2 lost. Tried a variety of flies but only had success with a mini shad dart, using slow strips. There were 6 others fishing around the point and I only saw one other person land one and two others lose a fish each. Will plan to head back at first light tomorrow.
 
Got to Middleton around 5:15am and was fly fishing on the river shortly thereafter. I thought it was going to be a great session when I hooked 5, with 3 landed in the first 10-15 minutes but alas, it was pretty much all downhill from there on. I ended up with more mosquito bites than shad bites :angry: The water level was very low, down about 2 feet compared to the beginning of the week. Very little current at the confluence making it difficult to get my fly to where I wanted it to be. At around 7am, three nice fellows from Liverpool arrived and mainly stayed around the point until they left around 10:30. We were the only four all morning. The three from Liverpool were having about as much luck as me. Two of them caught 2 each and the other fellow had one. The shad were in full spawn mode in the Nictaux. I saw 4 huge balls of spawning shad (hundreds of fish in each ball). I was only able to induce the occasional take. The vast majority of my hook ups today ended in lost fish. Not sure what was happening but they simply were on the end of the line for about 1-5 seconds and then off again...weird! I left the river at about 11am and finished where I started i.e. the only one on the river. At the end of the session, I had only managed to land 7 and lost 16.
 
Last morning fishing session in Middleton before heading back home to HRM. I arrived on the water around 6am and had the river to myself until a fellow fly fisherman from Yarmouth arrived around 7:30. A few others appeared as the morning went on. The water remained low and slow. I fished the point/slot for the first couple of hours, only managing to land 4 and lose 2. I then spent the rest of the morning on the Nictaux where I only landed one more shad and had two pulls but wasn't able to set a hook on those two. Unfortunately this was the worst morning of my 4 day trip to Middleton. Still, a bad day fishing still beats a good day at work. I'll look forward to your update after you fish there on Friday Mr. Jollymore. If anyone can get into shad during these tough fishing days it will be you. All the best and tight lines!
 
Discussion starter · #94 ·
Here goes, We arrived at the point at 5:50 there were a few fish and had 2 on for a moment eachDarcy on the fly nothing. I seen a spawning ball just down river. manage to hook 2 for a 15sec fight. Then I looked thru the mist up river and up I went and never came back. Hooked 3 at the old bridge went yup river got into 2 more, went back to the old bridge and played 5 in a row and went to the point and told Darcy to join me The other fly dfisher also joined me as darcy went up to the bend. I hooked 3 and had a double with the other fly fisher. I then Wentup to see what Darcy got into and joined him in a 1 hr of hookups. Things got Quite and we waded uyp the river to the fallen trees and walked around them they were holding behind them and i hooked 3 while Darcy had .3 on at the second corner. I went back down to the other spot and spent 1.5hs catching fish , Darcy joined me when he came back down river. I decided to pack it in while he was still hitting trhem and went down to the old bridge and landed 3 more. We moved with the fish and Darcy said I had landed over50 fish to his 25. I lost count at 35. We were all alone up thetre in my late June spot :D Another great morning in the mist.
 
Thanks for the update S. Jollymore. Great to hear that you and Darcy were getting into so many fish. I guess my lack of knowledge of the rivers was holding me back these past 2 mornings. I'd love to join you on the river again some day to learn how to read it and figure out where to find fish when it's not super obvious.
 
Discussion starter · #96 ·
Scottie Fly Don't get locked in 1 spot As Darcy did point outhe had not fished in a lot of these spots before aND FOUND NEW ONES. .This am the point was dead I went down then up to find the fish, Alot of this is places that fished well in past Junes.The only spot I have not fis is the rapids up by the iron bridge great for fly fishing.Next year we will connect for fish hpoe fully next.
 
Discussion starter · #97 ·
Here my last post on Middleton. Arrived at 5:30am there was a fly fisher whom I have fished beside for the last 10y off and on.He had landed 2 hust before i got there.There was a big spwning mass running up and down the point and Nixtau. Yes i hit in with my combo on and started to land and hook ups that failed till they left at 6:45amthen i mentioned I'm heading up the Nixtau he asked to join with me up thewre i said sure.Hit 2 more at the old bridge but pulled and broke me off. I then went up past the corner and Jeff and james who I fish with all the time were up in the river crying that they couldn'd get the shad to bite so i showed them. Then I got cursed at by Jeff. I then mentioned what I was using and how, the schooled moved up so i joined them up there and we were hitting fish casting up and down.the river Ps we were standing dead centre of the Nixtau. As things slowed down i went back down to the corner walking down the centre of the river and casting . hooked up 4 more. went down to the point , then to the trough and picked of a few more using a deadly double hot pink. Had to give one to Jeff shortly after. I took a break then headed back up to hook a few more in the Nixtau, had anotrher coffee and headed farther up the river to join James and Jeff in a shaded pool full of Shad :D Never fished there before but got into 4 more and my last Shad of the season. The water was very low and Jefff walked from the turn down from the point down the middle to right under the bridge :blink: It was hard fishing and you consantly moved to get fish with a fast retrieve .A footnote the fellow fisher who i had started with was were i was in the trough as I was heading down asked me how i had done ,my reply 28 landed. He then informed me i was probably the most hated person on this river, I asked pray tell why he reply you catch all the dam fish :D I'm sorry i guess thats what 30 some years of this fishery gets you for Experience :ph34r: ps he was just making fun of me :D To Sum it up Low water and large spawning mass no new fish its over for me :( . Heard all about the shad fishing last April and will be getting a heads up next year when it begins. :D
 
Discussion starter · #98 ·
While at a fire arm course a fellow HWWA member informed me he was still catching big shad in his weir off of Walton. then he informed me of a new hubrid shad in his weir. Same body mass looks but smaller scales. My reply was you caught a retuney regrowing its scales.He then said no he releases alot of them, this is something different. he said when he catched the next one its mine to get tested.
 
81 - 98 of 98 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top