1st American Shad of the Derby!

This morning I gathered my gear and headed out to C.S. Lee Park for some shad fishing. When I got there at 10:00 AM, I talked with another boat fisherman who had just returned to the dock. The man said that nobody has caught anything this morning, including his pro fisherman friends. I had a bad feeling about the area after hearing this report, so I left and decided to try Mullet Lake Park instead. So I did. I arrived at Mullet Lake, I walked my things out to the river bank and setup a fishing spot. My first lure was a small 1" silver spoon, nothing. So I took that off and put on a pink jighead with a yellow twister tail. I fished this lure and then it came, the bite. My drag was singing as I'm reeling and trying not to snap the line. Basically playing the fish in the water until it tired itself. The shad was making jumps out of the water, going this way and that way. As soon as I wore the fish out, I tightened my drag and began reeling him in. It was a BIG shad. As soon as I got him close to the bank, I tried to lift him out and then SNAP! The line broke and there goes my fish with my lure attached to his mouth. I was excited, thrilled, and disappointed...alot of emotions. As I was putting on another jig, my hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush. LOL. It seemed like forever, but I was ready again. I casted out to the same spot, nothing. Casted again, and BOOM another shad. So here we go again, the jumps, the singing drag, the fish trying to shake loose. But this one I was determined to land. After a few minutes of wearing down the fish, I got him close to the bank where I was. This time I got on my knees and carefully lifted the fish out. I GOT HIM! It was a 16" American Shad that weighed 2 lb 2 oz. Boy, was I excited! I had finially caught my first American Shad of the 2011 derby! These fish are amazing to catch. I'm definitly hooked on shad fishing. =)