The season has begun, Shad have been taken at Rocks Village on the Merrimac and a few small schoolies have been caught on the mud flat behind Nichols. The fishing is sure to pick up as the weather warms and more fish arrive. The weather outlook for this week calls for cool, windy and damp at least thru Wednesday.

If you plan on fishing shad this week, here are a couple of helpful hints; be there as the tide turns to go out. Early season shad tend to stay close to the shore along the current seam, so the shore anglers should do well. If you are in a boat, anchor up within casting distance of the current seam. Until the river water warms up, the shad tend to stay closer to the shoreline and out of the heavy current. When the water warms, they will move out and away from shore. The best location for this fishing is on the W. Newbury side and ~ 100 yds. upstream of the bridge. A pair of waders will be a benefit. Make sure you pull off the pavement to avoid being tagged and do not leave any trash behind, and as a matter of fact, bring along a large trash bag and help clean up the area. THANKS!

Best baits right now are red/white and yellow/red shad darts, 1/4 - 3/8 oz, fished slow w/ twitch near the bottom. Small gold spoons will also work, again fished slow. If you are casting flies from a boat you will need a 200 grain sinking line and fished with a slow retrieve w/ twitch near the bottom. Al's RV Shad fly pattern will work best ( see the RV Shad Fly tying instructions in our special features section).

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