04-13-2003, 11:15 PM
[cool]Hey, Bro. I used to live in Rancho Cordove, right on the American River. I even made and sold a map of all the fishing holes and access points along the river. That was in the late 70's though, and I am sure the topography and the riverbed have undergone some changes.
What probably has not changed is the shad, and what they will eat. I have dredged thousands of those shiny brawlers out of the American, Sacramento and Feather rivers. I always liked fishing the American best...not only just because it was in my backyard, but because there were always a lot of fish in there and they were not hard to catch...once you got the hang of it.
I have never tried the Roadrunners for shad, but I have caught a lot of them on tiny spinners. I read that an old trick on the east coast is to clean some scales off the side of a shad you are going to keep...for the smoker or for the roe...and toss those scales in the water. The shad will come zipping in and chase those scales, and if you follow it with a small spinner you will get bit instantly. I never tried that, but I have caught shad on spinners.
There are some deep runs and holes all along the American that hold big schools of shad from around the first of May through the 4th of July in some years. June is the magic month, when it is usually a sure thing to find them in a good part of the river. Early in the run, the confluence of the American and the Sacramento are good. The fish come out of the muddy Sacramento and hang in the cleaner water of the American for a while before they go upstream. Small jigs or flies in white or chartreuse will get bit well. Some guys prefer yellow...or a combination of red and yellow or chartreuse or white. Only problem is that when the fish show up, so do the anglers and you can have a lot of company, because boats can access it easily.
Farther up the river there are a series of holes an riffles. The Paradise Beach area,near the college, is a popular spot...not just for the shad, but for the topless coeds too. The Rancho Cordove area has several good pools and runs. Some of these are best fished by wading.
At the top of the shad water is Nimbus Dam. That's all the farther the shad can run. There is a big slack water basin below the dam, that congregates large schools of milling shad...which spawn at night...making a big commotion on the surface. They don't hit well in the basin, but those still hanging in the current or slow moving pools are still good bets for flies, spinners or small lures.
Do you have a jig mold for the Roadrunners? If not, I will make you a deal. You buy the hooks and crane swivels and I will pour your jig heads. I might even be persuaded to paint a few with my chip-resistant epoxy paints too.
If you are interested, I also have several hundred 1/8 oz white heads made by FleFly company, that I first began using for shad jigs a long time ago. I also use them for other jigs, but they are just the right size and balance for the fish in the American. They prefer an all white to any other color, although they sometimes like a hot red thread tieoff at the top.
Shoot me an email or a PM and I can maybe offer some other inside info for you. Wish I could join you. Those "poor man's tarpon" are some kinda fun.
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What probably has not changed is the shad, and what they will eat. I have dredged thousands of those shiny brawlers out of the American, Sacramento and Feather rivers. I always liked fishing the American best...not only just because it was in my backyard, but because there were always a lot of fish in there and they were not hard to catch...once you got the hang of it.
I have never tried the Roadrunners for shad, but I have caught a lot of them on tiny spinners. I read that an old trick on the east coast is to clean some scales off the side of a shad you are going to keep...for the smoker or for the roe...and toss those scales in the water. The shad will come zipping in and chase those scales, and if you follow it with a small spinner you will get bit instantly. I never tried that, but I have caught shad on spinners.
There are some deep runs and holes all along the American that hold big schools of shad from around the first of May through the 4th of July in some years. June is the magic month, when it is usually a sure thing to find them in a good part of the river. Early in the run, the confluence of the American and the Sacramento are good. The fish come out of the muddy Sacramento and hang in the cleaner water of the American for a while before they go upstream. Small jigs or flies in white or chartreuse will get bit well. Some guys prefer yellow...or a combination of red and yellow or chartreuse or white. Only problem is that when the fish show up, so do the anglers and you can have a lot of company, because boats can access it easily.
Farther up the river there are a series of holes an riffles. The Paradise Beach area,near the college, is a popular spot...not just for the shad, but for the topless coeds too. The Rancho Cordove area has several good pools and runs. Some of these are best fished by wading.
At the top of the shad water is Nimbus Dam. That's all the farther the shad can run. There is a big slack water basin below the dam, that congregates large schools of milling shad...which spawn at night...making a big commotion on the surface. They don't hit well in the basin, but those still hanging in the current or slow moving pools are still good bets for flies, spinners or small lures.
Do you have a jig mold for the Roadrunners? If not, I will make you a deal. You buy the hooks and crane swivels and I will pour your jig heads. I might even be persuaded to paint a few with my chip-resistant epoxy paints too.
If you are interested, I also have several hundred 1/8 oz white heads made by FleFly company, that I first began using for shad jigs a long time ago. I also use them for other jigs, but they are just the right size and balance for the fish in the American. They prefer an all white to any other color, although they sometimes like a hot red thread tieoff at the top.
Shoot me an email or a PM and I can maybe offer some other inside info for you. Wish I could join you. Those "poor man's tarpon" are some kinda fun.
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