Lots of good advice. I use 50 lb. braided on mine, with an ugly stick. Pulls great through the pads and weeds.
Is there a Shad Ladder on that dam?
Welcome aboard. Great site.
Don’t ya just value all the Captain Obvious responses? That’s pretty much what you can expect when there is no definitive answer, with the exception perhaps, of FS Digest’s literate explanation. Except to get your leg pulled now and then. Happy fishing 🎣
Chief
Welcome aboard Frog. My geography isn’t too good. If that’s Lutz, NC, I was stationed with a couple of guys from there, way back in 68. Even back then they raved about fishing on Gaston.
This is a great site. You are going to get a lot of great information here.
DPC USN Retired
Hi Chief Weathersby, Chief Gary Bucy here. Retired January 1979. I am in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. No where near you for giving advice, just thought I would give you a shout out. Hope you are enjoying the Retired life. 🎣 DPC USN Retired ⚓️
Jakestake83, I’m 78, but didn’t get to a pond until I was 8. I led a sheltered early childhood, but have since drowned my share of night crawlers. I fully agree that compared to worms, and Hellgrammites 😃, artificial bait falls way short. Have you noticed how many bait makers go all out to duplicate worms. Why is that I wonder? The old ways will prevail. 🎣
During the Shad spawn run, they would tear up a Red and White Shad Dart. Lots of fun on a fly rod too. During the spawn, the Shad would be so plentiful up along Port Deposit, it looked like all you could see were fish backs on the river. I agree, Shad Roe was really good when it was fresh. Stop to think about it, that was about 40 years ago. Conowingo Dam runs a Shad elevator from April till June to help the spawn run, but the Susquehanna had been running high last year, making the run off at the Dam so heavy, that the fish had a hard time finding the elevator, so the spawn counter only detected nearly 7,000 spawning Shad in 2018, down from a little over 16,000 in 2017. The ladder opens again this April, but depending on the run off, who knows.
ChiefB
Thanks Flyguy. What’s your home town 20.
I fly fish 🐠 too. Not as much as I’d like to anymore, but I still have my tools. SW Virginia has some great stream.
Really nice catch. I fished the Susquehanna from Havre De Grace up to the Conowingo Dam for about 5 years, when I was stationed at NTC Bainbridge, Maryland, when it existed. The Bass and Crappie fishing was great (63-68). The Shad fishing was unbelievable then too. Do you fish above the Dam? I took out some great Large Mouth (catch and release), and lots of Blue Gills and Sunnys (fish fries).
DPC USN Retired
Hi folks. I’ve been fishing for about 70 years, and finally decided to check in here, so I can share my experiences with you all. I have also been wanting to respond to some of the postings that I have read. You will be seeing more of ChiefB soon.