Shad can be taken with the fly, but only where they are collected together in considerable quantities, or over a reef, or where they are obstructed by a dam or falls. The same rule obtains with salmon, which never rise to the fly in smooth, still water, and are caught most freely where the fresh stream falls directly by rapids or cataract into the brackish or salt tideway. If the lower part of the river is unbroken, the salmon run directly up and are never taken by fly fishing, and if they have to ascend a long distance to the first rough water, they do not rise so well. It is possible that the failure of salmon to take the fly in the Columbia and other streams of Oregon and California, is due to the fact that the falls are so far from the ocean, and they might possibly be made to rise by an artificial obstruction.

The ordinary fly used in fishing for shad is one that is a dull yellow throughout, the color of the sandhoppers that are found on the sandy shores of salt water. It is trolled more generally than cast, and has been used successfully in the Connecticut and Hudson rivers. The sport, however, is not such as to attract the thorough fisherman, and has been pursued rather from curiosity than for amusement. Shad have been taken in fresh water with the minnow.