Fishing just below the dam at Enfield. 



The Tarpon's Zany Cousin 



story and photograph by Pete Barrett 



A MAN doesn't have to be crazy to fish for shad, but a touch of 

 sun helps now and then. Picture a fish so capricious it 

 doesn't know its mind for more than a few minutes at a time. For 

 a brief, wonderful period it may hit with mad abandon, then the 

 deal's off. It can escape with an impossible caper when the net is 

 ready. How can you reason with such a creature? 



But these qualities pale to nothingness when compared with 

 the shad's predilection for colors. This lovely eccentricity has 

 driven plenty of strong-willed men to absolute frenzy. 



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