Shad below Conowingo Dam

[KennettSteve]

Anybody hear if the shad are in Deer Creek or the Octorara below the Conowingo Dam? Do the revised MD regs (due to corona) let you fish for them?

 

[marcq]

They have been in the Schuylkill and Delaware for a few weeks maybe a month so I would assume they are in the Susquehanna

 

[poopdeck]

The shad have been in the Delaware for 6 or more weeks now and they have pretty much run their course in the bucks county/Easton area. Still being caught but only one here and one there. I put my shad gear away last week. I assume the susky has about the same time schedule. Can't help you with MD laws.

 

[timmyt2]

Poopdeck

How was the shad fishing this year?

 

[hunter1]

I talked to a Maryland DNR ranger a few weeks ago about ff deer creek. She said due to the gov's virus order, no fishing in the parks. You can fish for perch if you eat them. But any catch and release water, trout or shad, no.

 

[poopdeck]

Well I only got out 3 times because my boat was in COVID19 lockdown for five weeks and when I managed to get it out they closed the boat ramps. I can't really comment on the run as I didn't get a real chance to fish the thick part of it. I caught between 18 and 26 on each trip so I would say the run was another good one. I'm a little concerned about the stripers since I haven't caught one yet but I'm relegated to the bank where I'm totally out of my normal.

 

[sarce]

As mentioned above - can't fish for shad in MD because fishing is only allowed right now if you plan to eat what you catch, within the established species size and creel limits. Since shad are protected and must be released, they're not legal to target now.

In a normal year it would be a great time to try as I think they'd be in thick in that part of MD by now.

 

[sandfly]

Delaware shad run in bucks is still going well. Lots of friends catching over 10 fish/day

 

[poopdeck]

10 a day is spotty and a long day of one here and one there. The main shad run is well above bucks county now. The river has been flowing 5' in Lambertville since the beginning of the month so I don't think there has been much shad fishing going on this month. 5' is high and essentially not fishable. Can you if you really wanted to, I guess but I wouldn't be out there. Just today it dropped to 4' which is about as high as I will go out for shad but that's only when I'm desperate to get out. Yes, at the end of April spotty shad fishing was still occurring in Bucks County. May has seen high water so I think your friends reports of 10 a day were from the end of April and not this month.

On another note a body floated up on the ramp in Falls Twps At Penns Mansion. Believed to be a missing kayaker in New Hope. The river is high in Bucks so if you go out please be careful.

 

[Mike]

I expect to be right back at it in Riegelsville area, Upper Bucks Co when the water level falls. Shad spawn in that area so they are present into early June in good numbers during some years, but May anglers generally have the river to themselves south of Easton.

 

[poopdeck]

Mike wrote:
I expect to be right back at it in Riegelsville area, Upper Bucks Co when the water level falls. Shad spawn in that area so they are present into early June in good numbers during some years, but May anglers generally have the river to themselves south of Easton.

Yes shad are still in the river during May but, as you duly noted, not in numbers that make many want to fish for them especially when you can catch 20 plus stripers on the same day. Do people consider 10 shad a day good numbers? Nobody I know.

I will say, it's been a freaking cold damp spring so far.

 

[Mike]

Fishing from shore in upper Bucks...averaging 10 shad per 3 hr average trip length would be stellar. My highest from shore over the years has been an avg 4.5 per hr and I think my avg across 30 yrs would probably be less than 1 per hour from shore. One fish per 45 min is decent shad fishing from shore for me across a 3 he trip. Boat fishing is entirely a different thing with much higher catch rate even by flat lining.

As for the slot size stripers at Trenton Falls, I would expect them to show up in good numbers after this cold snap and its associated higher flows and falling water temps.