Just below the dam on the South end of Lake Moultrie is a
stretch of water called the tail race canal. During the late winter and early
spring the American Shad make their annual migration towards the lake and boats
line up on either side to have a chance at catching a few Tail Race Tuna.
The American Shad, or Alosa
sapidissima, are following the route they always do as these mostly
salt water fish migrate upstream in fresh water to spawn. Most fishermen are
looking to catch the big female shad or the “Roe Shad”, where the egg sacs are
harvested and cooked. This is considered a local delicacy. The people I have
talked to say you can eat them and they aren't bad but there are tastier fish
to catch. American Shad are usually targeted with ultra-light spin fishing gear
or on fly fishing gear, usually a 5wt or 6wt rod. The bait of choice is a curly
tailed grub or a fly called a shad dart about a size-8 or size-6. A chartreuse
wooly bugger will work too as long as it is weighted down. Any color will work
for shad fishing as long as it is chartreuse.
For catch and
release fishermen, like myself, the thrill of the fight of these scrappy fish
is pretty exciting. Long casts up
current and letting your lure or fly sink towards the bottom are usually
greeted with a sharp tug and then a hard fight.
American Shad like to stay low in the water column and if you are
feeling bumps on the bottom, you are doing it right. Once the shad make their way towards the
surface they tend to jump and be very acrobatic. They will make long runs back towards the
bottom, like a tuna, hence the Tailrace Tuna moniker, and will put a lot of
pressure on light tackle and will test your patience.
My trip for some
Tailrace Tuna started on a bright sunny afternoon when I met my fishin buddy
Adam at the landing and we launched his boat. As we headed up the canal we chatted about
what we were about to do. Adam and I
have both shad fished before but we are far from experts. We
talked about our plan of attack and motored past the rail road trestle and
began to see other boats. As we
approached the spot I had fished before with some success I saw there were
about fifteen other boats lined up and fishing. Our flats skiff, an East Cape Gladesman, was
a little out of place among the jon boats, bass boats, and even a big pontoon
boat. We motored around and found a
spot on the left side of the canal and set up.
Tossing the anchor and letting it stick allowed the boat to swing bow
into the current and gave us a pretty stable location. I grabbed my fly rod and began to cast and
Adam did the same thing with an ultra-light spin-cast outfit. As I made my casts of the double rig of
heavily weighted flies I realized they were not getting down deep enough. I added some split shot and still not
enough. As a last resort I added a
skin-tip to the end of my fly line and even with this weight the water was
moving too quickly to allow my flies to sink down far enough. Adam made a few casts and had a bite, and after
a few more casts had one hooked. I
reeled in my fly line and gave up on it unless the water flow slowed down. Adam fought the fish just as he should have,
gingerly but firmly but, as sometimes happens, it came loose. They have very thin mouths, paper thin so you
have to make sure you don’t horse the Shad or your lure or fly can easily rip
out of the fish’s mouth.
He made a few more
casts and we talked about politics and fishing when his rod doubled over again
and he was into another fight.
He slowly held
pressure while reeling in the Shad. I
grabbed my camera and waited for the jumps and flips but this Shad was camera
shy and stayed down. After a few more minutes
of fight, I grabbed the net and scooped up Adams Prize.
We snapped a few photos and released the fish and set back
to fishing. We traded off the spinning
rod and I took a few turns casting and had a few bites but landed no fish. We watched the Ospreys fly over and the
pelicans flock over to any boat that caught a fish looking for handouts. The boats around us were catching a few fish
here and there and some were having the same luck as we were. It was getting late and we called it a day.
The
Shad fishing should be good for a couple more weeks and from the people I spoke
to at the landing it has been getting better.
So if you are looking for a great way to spend an afternoon, grab a
buddy or two and head up to the Tailrace canal and get into your own Tailrace Tuna!!
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