Posted on 16th Apr 2011 @ 11:48 AM

3/31/2011 - I landed my first American shad this past Thursday along with a couple other white shad, I also caught 2 hickory shad and several herring. After about a hour I decided to go down river and try a area that produces some nice fish this time of the years and anchored up. I had a nice blue catfish alongside the boat within 15 minutes of anchoring. It wasn't to be though as the tide was slowing and the wind that was coming up the river started to get stronger making fishing difficult so I decided to head back up and try shad fishing some more. I returned to the same area I had fished earlier and never hooked another shad and after a half hour of only landing 4 small white perch I figured that the light had faded to much. Normally I would had gotten some more shad strikes but the water was slightly stained, so I am thinking the combination with the fading light caused the shad to be unable to see the spoon.  I decided to move up river to just below the I-95 bridge as the sunlight was fading and casted out 2 rods hoping to hook up with a big flathead or striper. It wasn't long before I got the interest of a couple bluecats and landed two around 6 to 8 pounds before a storm came up and put a halt to the day. I haven't been back as a result of other fishing commitments and the weather. Saturday I fished the Pamunkey River with my client Lacey Thomson from Maryland. Lacey had hoped to catch a citation yellow perch but we were unable to locate the perch but did manage to catch several fish over the course of the day. Lacey caught 5 bass from 1 1/2 up to 3 1/4 pounds, three crappies biggest 12inches, about two dozen catfish up to 3 pounds and one little yellow perch. Not sure what happened on the perch run this year but no one I know did well anywhere really other than a couple folks I heard about having some luck only one day. Looks like a great April fishing season with the rains we been receiving lately. Once this cold spell were experiencing now moves out on tomorrow we should be all uphill as far as the fishing and weather, hopefully. I will be hooking into another white shad by Saturday as temperatures are forecasted to be in the upper 60's and the 70's next week. Hope you get a chance to get out and enjoy some fishing soon and if you need advice, information and or would like to experience some great fishing please give me a call or send an email and I will respond soon as possible. To those whom I had the pleasure of meeting recently at the Fredricksburg gun and outdoor sportsman show and are receiving this report for the first time.  Thank you for taking the time to talk with me and leaving your contact information. Thank you for your interest in my service and Good fishing!    Capt. Mike Hoke Life's revenge guide service Richmond, VA.