Shad is a type of fish, much valued as a sport fish. The male shad is an excellent game fish, showing multiple jumps and an occasional end-over-end; it has been called a "freshwater tarpon". The gravid female does not fight much, but is often kept for the roe. The current world record is listed by the IGFA as 11 pounds 4 ounces (5.1 kg), set at Holyoke Dam, Massachusetts, on 19 May 1986 by Robert A. Thibodo.[1]

Watercolor of an American shad by Sherman F. Denton, 1904. The swelling between the anal fin and ventral fin identifies this as a pregnant female.

American shad exhibit complex and little-understood feeding behavior while spawning. Unlike salmon, shad retain the ability to digest and assimilate food during the anadromous migration.[citation needed] Like other fish, their feeding instinct can be triggered by a variety of factors such as turbidity and water temperature.

Fishing techniques

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Anglers use both spinning and fly fishing tackle to pursue shad. Spin fisherman use a shad dart or a flutter spoon. Typically, a downrigger is used to place the artificial lure at the desired depth and location. This is usually in the channel, or deepest part of the river. Much of the shad's migration places them in the lower portion of the water column which makes this the typical depth of choice for fishing.[citation needed]

Except in unusual conditions, shad stay fairly deep, requiring weight on the line or fly. Many fly fishermen use an unusual 1/64 oz. "micro-jig", that resembles a tiny casting bass jig, although it commonly has short nylon feathering to the rear. Shad can be taken either by slow trolling or drift casting, i.e. casting upriver and letting the lure drift with the current. Most fishermen use a Y-shaped "shad rig", consisting of two lures spaced one to two feet apart, with a weight on a swiveled line between them or in front of them. The two lures are either two "shad darts"—a very small bright jig (as small as 1/64 oz., but usually 1/4 oz. and about one inch long) -- or a shad dart in front and a spoon spinner in back. Sometimes a live grub is threaded onto the dart. The shad stay near the bottom unless the water is unusually high, so the rig is designed to keep the lure a foot off the bed.[citation needed]

During the shad spawning run, multiple species of shad run together. Fishing regulations may vary between species. For example, in some locales, Hickory Shad may be kept while American Shad must be returned. The two species can be difficult to distinguish, so anglers must use caution when shad fishing to be able to make proper identification.[citation needed]

Shad fishing in the U.S.

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In the north of the US, April–June is when shad spawn in the coastal rivers and estuaries once water temperatures have reached 58 °F. Fishing conditions typically improve as water temperatures warm and flow decreases.[citation needed]

West Coast

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Early 19th-century shad fishing on the Peedee (Greater Pee Dee) River, South Carolina.[2]
  • California: The Sacramento River provides the best-known shad water in the state, and is ideally suited to spin fishing. The water is large, quite deep and is best accessed via boat. There are smaller, more accessible waters suitable for wading fly anglers along the Sacramento's' tributaries.[citation needed]
  • Oregon: Most of Oregon's coastal rivers have shad runs, but there are some standouts. East of Portland, the Bonneville Dam poses a significant obstacle to the Columbia River's shad run. As a result, the most popular areas are just downstream from the dam, though shore fishing can be dicey depending on water levels.[citation needed]
  • Washington: The Columbia River delineates the border with Oregon, so some of Washington's best shad fishing is to be had in the Bonneville Dam area. There is a small non-Indian commercial gill net fishery several miles downstream from Bonneville Dam. There is also a tribal commercial fishery. The tribal fishery is composed of a dip net/hoop net fishery from platforms primarily in the Bonneville Dam pool and a live trap fishery at The Dalles Dam.[citation needed]

East Coast

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Old map of the east coast spawning grounds

Shad fishing in Ireland

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There are 2 species of shad commonly encountered by anglers in Ireland.[4] Twaite Shad and Allis shad run a small number of river in the south east of the country. These include the Munster Blackwater, the Rivers Barrow, Nore and Suir and the River Slaney. Chief amongst these is the River Barrow where anglers gather every May to fish the main runs of Twaite Shad.[citation needed]

Notes

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  1. ^ World Record Game Fishes Publication of the IGFA.
  2. ^
     
    "Fish-nets on the Peedee River", from River Fisheries of the United States, Artist unknown, in the Nat. Oc. A. Assoc. NMFS collection. For a version of the entire aquatint, click the thumbnail.
  3. ^ Map Archived 2013-01-24 at archive.today
  4. ^ Twaite shad (Alosa Fallax) Website of the Inland Fisheries Ireland.

References

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  • McPhee, John (2002) The Founding Fish Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-10444-3.
  • Gerstell, Richard (1988) American shad in the Susquehanna River Basin: a three-hundred-year history Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01806-5
  • Inland Fisheries Ireland (2021), [1] Twaite shad (Alosa Fallax)]