The water in Russell turned colder this past winter than I have ever seen it. It was when it dropped to 38-39 degrees on surface temps when the shad started dying off. The gulls left Clark Hill and invaded Russell for the easy pickens, and youn can bet the fish got their share too. It was nothing seeing 100-200 gulls in one area of a creek. I'm thinking from the cold water maybe some shad died quickly and some lingered but it was evident seeing dead shad on top of the water early mornings as well as seeing them fluttering upside down to the surface while fishing. And youre right...the fish should be full and fat getting transitioned up in the water column for the spawn. My plans are to fish Russell this coming week a couple of times to see if theyre hungry yet as that die off should have ended with warmer water and higher day/nite temps.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.