shad season
- Thread starter sandfly
- Start date
We boated 23 and lost another 7 today. Fished from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM. 15 boats out but not a lot of catching until about 1:00. Fishing was pretty good between 1 and 4 and then it slowed down a lot. They should be in Easton in good numbers right now but will get better in another week, I guess. Lot of bucks today.
JerryC
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2014
- Messages
- 525
I got my first report from Lewis Fishery today. They're located in Lambertville.
"I am glad to report that we were able to get out on the water this evening. We were getting a temperature of 57F but I think that was a bit high. As of 11:30pm the mean temperature reading from the Lambertville-New Hope bridge was 52F (11.0C). Anyway, we were running 150 yards of net. There was quite a crowd on the river tonight. Fishing boats, rowers and dragon boats. We ended up with 4 bucks, 2 row, returned 2 and also had 2 quillback and a gizzard shad."
"I am glad to report that we were able to get out on the water this evening. We were getting a temperature of 57F but I think that was a bit high. As of 11:30pm the mean temperature reading from the Lambertville-New Hope bridge was 52F (11.0C). Anyway, we were running 150 yards of net. There was quite a crowd on the river tonight. Fishing boats, rowers and dragon boats. We ended up with 4 bucks, 2 row, returned 2 and also had 2 quillback and a gizzard shad."
Nope. I think catching a boat load of them with spin gear is way cooler than not catching any with a fly rod. I enjoy my fly rods and my spinning gear equally. Where I fish for shad the spin gear is far superior so that's what I use.
I post my results so you die hard fly rod only guys know when they are in thick so you can go try to catch one. Plus I know there are many closet spin fisherman here as well. I know this because I spent 6 hours talking to a guy in the next boat over about fly tying and fly fishing in Alaska and Montana.
14 is just a sign that the full run ain't here yet. 14 is a slow day, 4 is a painful day but you must suffer through these days to reap the rewards of a great day.
They are all down low. During the early part of the run there are more bucks. as the run progresses the ratio switches to more roe. That's an indication of how far into the run we are. Yesterday it was a lot more bucks then roe so the main run awaits.
It's all fishable to some degree from shore. I'm not familiar with gauge height and river conditions in Easton. However I checked the projection in Lambertville (4.1') and know that 4.1 is fishable but not for me but I fish from a boat not from shore. Since the gauge in Easton is running below 5' now and is projected to go to 9' I would stay home and cut the grass and look to head out on Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully somebody more familiar with Easton will chime in but it seems on the swift and dirty side.
I fished Easton late Mon afternoon and late this afternoon. River level was quite good for wading and water was clear. I fished from shore at a decent spot but only had one shad on and off in three hours of fishing each day. Trying the morning shift next. Saw one landed by a boater, but I did not see anyone have much action in general. On the other hand I was mainly concentrating on my fishing so I wasn’t looking around much. There were only 1-3 boats on the water each day and only a hand-full of shore anglers well spread out, so that should tell you something.
JerryC
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2014
- Messages
- 525
Here's the latest report I received from Lewis Fishery in Lambertville.
"For the haul we caught a total of 40 shad. We kept 0 bucks and 0 roe. We returned all 40 shad, 3 catfish and 7 gizzard shad. All the shad were returned because we had no one to buy any. For the year we are already over 200 shad caught (204 to be exact). And tonight was our 7th haul...The water temp was still at 56F. The water level was down just a bit again to 2.45'."
In the previous two reports for the 13th and 14th. They caught 38 and 67 shad. The the shad run is definitely on and heading upriver.
"For the haul we caught a total of 40 shad. We kept 0 bucks and 0 roe. We returned all 40 shad, 3 catfish and 7 gizzard shad. All the shad were returned because we had no one to buy any. For the year we are already over 200 shad caught (204 to be exact). And tonight was our 7th haul...The water temp was still at 56F. The water level was down just a bit again to 2.45'."
In the previous two reports for the 13th and 14th. They caught 38 and 67 shad. The the shad run is definitely on and heading upriver.
Water level has been good for wading around the easton area up to the gap, I've been out all week. Have been averaging about 1 per hour. Water temp has been 53-56. Still think it's early in the run, but you shouldn't wait until the end of the month, they are in the river now. Maybe you won't catch 100 in a day like some guy's claim to do but if you put the time in you'll catch some, possibly a lot if you hit a day that they really turn on.
