You'll find over time that reports of Shad "starting" to move up the river often understate or underestimate the extent of the migration that has already occurred.. Usually, fishable numbers are already up the river when the water temp finally gets high enough and flows low enough that many anglers can catch them, not just the anglers with down riggers. Evidence is that when the first good weekend of good flows and warmer water occurs, Shad are "suddenly" being caught from Trenton to the water gap or even Bushkill. There is obviously a peak to the run, however, and in central to upper Bucks Co that usually occurs between April 12 and April 24 whether the flows and temps are good for fishing or not.
As for stripers, this yrs timing is pretty typical. Some large fish have been caught in the Estuary over the past two to three weeks by bait anglers and a number of fish 20 inches and mid-teens have also been caught as well. Most fish will still be out in 20-30 ft of water, although some stray, large females will move into warmer embayments in shallow water, the warmer temps of which probably aid in egg development. Only a few were seen yesterday in the Tidal Schuylkill electrofishing run below Fairmount Dam, so progress up the Schuylkill has been a little slow. With the distance that these fish can cover in a day, however, empty habitat today could be full of stripers tomorrow. I can only make one guarantee,...you won't catch any sitting at home.
