The Shad

[hooker-of-men]

I'm interested to hear folks' approaches to fishing for shad. This past season was the first time I went out for them and I did OK, but I only had luck boat fishing and trolling with spinning gear. Next year I want to try to get it done on the fly rod as well.

Do people mostly wade or fish from boats? If wading, do you post up in one area that you think is going to produce, or do you cover ground? (I hate wading the Delaware and the idea of trying to wade it like a trout stream horrifies me.) I'd like to hear anything anyone wants to share, really.


I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere along these lines, but the search function isn't giving me anything. Sorry for that.

 

[Oregon_Owl]

Only ever tried it once on the Delaware with a fly rod. No success, but I have to admit to being pretty ignorant of what to do or what time to go. It was nore of a seat of the pants decision. Caught some memorable fallfish though. All was not lost.

 

[sarce]

I've done a good bit of shad fishing on the tidal Potomac. Wading is 100% impossible where my friends and I fish it. We find a current seam within casting range and just post up there. Any kind of sinking line or sink tip helps a lot. Cast upstream, throw some big mends to help the flies sink, let it swing around and hopefully dangle on the edge of the current. Sometimes they want a very fast retrieve, use short fast strips to bring the fly back in. Vary depth and retrieve until you get into them. Be patient, some days they are just "off".

Similar tactics apply if you're on a boat. Anchor along a current seam if it is safe to do so.

 

[sapper6]

I tried shad fishing for the first time this year and now I really regret waiting so long. I wade in the Easton area, use an 8 wt with a cheap sinking line, throwing across and drifting down most of the time. The vast majority of strikes are at the end of the drift.

IMO where you stand is way more important than what you have at the end of your line. The key is to drift where the fish are (duh!). If only that were as easy as it sounds. This is the first year I am retired, so I was able to spend 2 or 3 days per week on the water for 6 weeks or so. Yeah, I'm a slow learner. I was also able to swing by and see if any shad were there on a particular day, so there were plenty of days that I stopped by and didn't fish, or maybe it would be too crowded to get in as I needed more space than the typical spin guy.

Changes in water level and weather put the shad in different places from day to day, you just have to figure out where they are, if they are there at all on a particular day. Then some days they are there but don't seem to be hitting, which doesn't make sense at all.

I learned a lot by watching and talking to the experienced guys, both spin and fly fishermen. As always, there are some good guys out there. Also, the Delaware Shad Fishermans Association puts on an informative evening. I went from getting shut out to catching my share, although I still couldn't match a spin guy with experience. They sure put on a good fight with a fly rod.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

I have only spin fished for them, but a lot of good advice above. They seem to rest up at night, so at first light they will be stacked up in quieter water out of the channel. Bends where the channel comes close to shore or pinch points would make it easier with the long rod when they are on the move. High water years seem to move them through very quickly.

Back in the day, and I am sure the thinking has changed on this, the most successful fly fisherman hunted them in skinny water up in the spawning grounds late in the spring.

 

[Canoetripper]

A good friend and former roommate guides for shad and stipers in the New Hope, PA-Trenton, NJ section of the Delaware. Every time I went shad fishing with him it was in Scudder's Falls just upstream from the I-95 bridge.

He had a pretty elaborate anchor system with a float right next to the boat. This is heavy current. He uses spinning tackle with shad darts and may have as many as 6 rods in the water at the same time. I call this stationary trolling.

When a shad strikes and the rod bends the boat is released and the other rods reeled. These are strong fish with paper thin mouths burning line off of the reel in that current. After the shad was netted, we would motor back upstream to the float and do it all over again. It was a lot of fun.

On one of my upper Delaware River canoe trips, my uncle was tandem fishing nymphs on a 6 wt. fly rod and by luck hooked a shad. He was into his backing real fast.

 

[hooker-of-men]

Oregon_Owl wrote:
Only ever tried it once on the Delaware with a fly rod. No success, but I have to admit to being pretty ignorant of what to do or what time to go. It was nore of a seat of the pants decision. Caught some memorable fallfish though. All was not lost.

This was pretty much my experience as well. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but just wanted to give it a try. The approach worked with the spinning gear and shad darts, but not so much with the fly rod.

 

[afishinado]

It's not as much about the "how" (get deep with a brightly colored streamer fly > swing > hang and cast again)

It's more about the "where" and "when"...

Mark this site as a favorite and check it out next spring:

Shad fishing Log

A lot of good info in there. Just put in your time and you should have success.

They are a lot of fun to catch...good luck

 

[hooker-of-men]

Thanks. I was checking that site throughout the season. I was also calling the shad hotline a lot, which is an amazing thing and it's ridiculous that it even exists. Some evenings I would call and put it on speaker phone at the dinner table to mess with my wife.

I guess my "how" questions are more oriented towards navigating the damn river, rather than tackle. I walk up to begin wading and there's just too much water to deal with. It's daunting and difficult to even cast into the current in most places. This makes me feel like you almost have to have a boat to be successful, but I know that isn't true. Hence looking for advice.

 

[afishinado]

hooker-of-men wrote:
Thanks. I was checking that site throughout the season. I was also calling the shad hotline a lot, which is an amazing thing and it's ridiculous that it even exists. Some evenings I would call and put it on speaker phone at the dinner table to mess with my wife.

I guess my "how" questions are more oriented towards navigating the damn river, rather than tackle. I walk up to begin wading and there's just too much water to deal with. It's daunting and difficult to even cast into the current in most places. This makes me feel like you almost have to have a boat to be successful, but I know that isn't true. Hence looking for advice.

Remember that the shad are moving/migrating through the river to their spawning areas. Given that, there are certain sections of the river that the shad will gravitate towards or around to make for an easier route. Pinch points, soft lanes in the current, channels, etc.

Unless the bottom or obstructions change drastically, these areas remain year after year. Move around, fish different areas and try to find these hot spots. If possible, hang out with some shad fishermen to learn the river. Or at the very least, pay close attention as to how and where they fish.

Have fun...good luck.

 

[shadspoon]

I mainly fish for hickory shad on the Susquehanna, below Conowingo dam. The last 2 years I have explored the Delaware. If you want to catch them with a fly just be patient! Maybe 1 or 2 a day if you are luck, at least for me. I am 90 minutes away.... With spin gear the numbers are better. BUT it all depends on when and where! I usually use flutter spoons for hickory's or white shad. Right place, right time, right color and you are in the game. Fly guys and spin fishers don't usually mix but at shad time we fish side by side. Hickory's are different in that they are not filter feeders. They can be caught all summer long on the beaches and inlets feeding on minnows. I just wish I had started this obsession earlier!!!

 

[sarce]

Shad are strange fish. For one, they can't swim backwards, and sometimes they get disoriented during the fight. When fishing from the bank I sometimes release them only to watch them swim headfirst into a submerged rock, roll on their side and get stuck there. Then you have to lasso them with the line and the rod tip and nudge them back out of the path of the rock.

So I guess if you aren't wading or boating when you catch one - careful where you release them. Lol.

 

[poopdeck]

I shad fish the bucks county area of the river. Wading is generally not the best in this area unless you like standing in waist deep water fighting strong currents. Best to look for choke points where wading is easier and the fish will be close to you. Not many of these spots out there but they are easily found. Just look where everybody else is. The wing dam above the Stockton bridge is one such place. The tinicum area is also better for wading then the new hope/Lambertville area.

Shad fishing is best done by putting your lure out there and leaving it there. Constantly picking it up and casting it upstream to let it drift back to the swing means your lure/fly is only in the strike zone for about 2% of each cast. Leave it in that 2% 100% of the time and you will catch far more.

I fish for shad from a boat with spin gear so I can't offer much advice on fly fishing for them. I do know that the shad move in pods so you can sit there for 45 minutes and then all of a sudden all your rods double over. Bring them in, reset and then wait another 45 minutes. When they are in there thick the pods come up closer together. If your constantly casting chances are better then not that your lure/fly is not in the strike zone when they come through. They are not chasing your lure but rather just running into them and striking. They also come up more in single file fashion then abreast so spot is key. I have seen many times where the boat next to me has every rod bent over yet mine are still standing tall or vice versa.

I have never seen anybody release their anchor and drift while fighting a shad. it's not necessary and unless you like smashing into rocks and other boats it's not very wise. Most guys will buoy off their anchors so as to go back to the ramp to take a dump and come back without losing your spot. Anchor buoys are respected on the river.

 

[Canoetripper]

We never hit another boat or smashed a propeller in that section of Scudder's Falls. I think that there was just more water to work with because we were not that far upstream from where the Delaware eventually becomes tidal at the route 1/"Trenton makes the world Takes" bridge. He never would have risked damaging his boat or any other angler's boats.

This was back in the mid-eighties and my roommate had a 16' Lund boat with an outboard motor. We never fished the river above the New Hope wing dam.

He now has a center console jet boat which are popular on the Susquehanna River. I haven't fished in that boat, and perhaps his method of fishing has changed. I just don't know. The last time I saw him was when we went bird hunting north and east of the Morgantown exit of the PA Turnpike. That was back in the mid 2000's at one of our original roommate's funerals.

 

[sandfly]

http://www.bigmeadowsflyshop.com/FlyTierspage.html

scroll down and my article is there for shad. Been doing it since 1970

 

[Canoetripper]

I remember reading your post. Thanks for posting it again.

 

[hooker-of-men]

sandfly wrote:
http://www.bigmeadowsflyshop.com/FlyTierspage.html

scroll down and my article is there for shad. Been doing it since 1970

Thanks!

 

[JeffK]

That article is good - thanks.

I grew up on the Delaware and here is my take. In general, fly fishing is best above the Water Gap and in a low water year (like we have been having lately). Otherwise, a boat is best, but chucking lures from the bank works as well.

In shad seasons of my youth the water was up to the trees in spring so there was no room to fly cast (or even bank fish at all in many spots). We have been having dry springs for the last decade so bars to fish from are wadeable. That has been a great thing. Shad follow the channel and travel the same paths year after year, so some recon can get you to the right spots. However, in the lower river I generally need heavier rods and sink tips to reach the fish, which I am not so comfortable with. On the plus side, the saltwater guys I know who are familiar with heavier tackle have a blast. The upper river is more friendly to trout fishermen and their tackle IMHO. Plus, past the Water Gap more fish stop to spawn and hang around longer. Below the Gap most just pass through and one needs to know when the schools are coming through for best luck. When shad are spawning the bucks can get a aggressive and hit flies better than lures and I've seen many late season days where the fly guys outfish the spinning guys.

I will out one popular spot - the Copper Mines parking lot on the NJ side (PA license are good from both banks of Delaware R). It is a good spot, but crowded with plenty of fly fishermen. You may not like the crowds, but they are friendly and are willing to share, so it is a great place to learn. When you get the techniques down you can visit other spots.

 

[sandfly]

shad will daisy chain like tarpon in the evenings on flats, one good place is around the 202 toll bridge nice flat water just below on the jersey side. below scudders falls too on jersey side, also good for stripers.