John,

I've been doing my shad fishing right on the Potomac River in D.C., upstream from Georgetown University. There's a place (Fletcher's Boathouse) that's been renting rowboats for I don't know how many years now; take one out, find a spot to squeeze in (it gets busy when the shad and striped bass come up for the spawning run), drop anchor (an old rock) and have at it with a 250 gr sinking head and heavily weighted flies on a 6wt - I really do "duck" when I "chuck"; no desire to get plunked in the head with this rig. I am making many offerings to the fishing gods - sacrificed half a pork tenderloin on the grill last night when I tried to mix cooking with gardening and lost track of what I was doing; hope they enjoyed it. Try to keep some water in the rivers for me; by the time I get there all of the trout on Rock Creek, the Bitterroot and Clark Fork are going to know you on a first name basis.

Regards,
Scott