Let's talk about SHAD !

[AndyS]

I've been freshwater fishing my whole life and had only heard about shad but never gave the fish a try. It was only a few years ago I caught my first shad, I was on a float trip on the upper Delaware river in late April.
Pound for pound the fish is amazing !! Poor mans salmon.
A few years ago a buddy of mine handed me a shad dart, a big one, like 1/4 oz., chartruse. I asked him what do I do with this, he said just cast it out and reel it in like a spinner. I came down to the lower Raritan river and started tossing the dart and doing what I was told, soon enough I was tied into a big shad. Before catching shad I thought they were small fish around 12 or 14 inches long, WOW, these things average 5 and 6 pounds, some even bigger !! Drag smokers. If you get tied into a "HOT" shad, HANG ON.
Here is what little I know about shad:
April and May are the best months on both the Raritan and Delaware rivers.
They swim in large schools, one minute you have nothing, the next you have 50 or 60 going by.
They swim hard during the day and rest in the deeper slower pools at night.
I think the males come up river first.
A fish that can be caught easily from shore.

I've seen guys add a bit of glow Mister Twisters to the back of the shad darts.
Again, I practice CPR with shad (catch, photograph, release)
As I write this there is a pending moratorium on shad fishing in the Raritan river, so far I have seen as many as 7 guys fishing for shad on the Raritan, that is on the high side, and all C&R.

Let me know what you think, most is pretty cut and dry which makes this fish even more attractive.

[JerryC]

Me & Nick are addicted to Shad fishing.. we go every year around april time when they are hitting hard. We usually go with a guide on the D who has a drift boat, he's been MIA this year so we decided to do a kayak shad trip around the same time. They are fun fish to catch, certainly worth the yearly wait!

[acabtp]

do the shad in the Raritan and Delaware make it back to sea or die after they spawn?

[FASTEDDIE29]

Flutter spoons= catch SHAD!!! Egg sinker, barrel swivel, 3-4 ft leader, flutter spoon. Tons of colors to chose from.

[AndyS]

Walk the shores of the Delaware river in late June, the banks are littered with fallen heros, but I did hear some spawn and return to the ocean.

Hold your nose also, you know the catfizzz are getting fat !!

It'll be interesting to see the numbers after the flooding last year.

[Capt. Lou]

The flooding last year is not an indicator of whether we will have a decent run this season. What may have occured several years back effects today's run.
The last several seasons have been strong , this season should be as well.
They can be caught on a multitude of lures & methods.
One of the most consistent methods to pile up solid catches is by far on the fly rod!
Whatever method you pursue go light wonderful fighting fish on light tackle
release
with care , try to keep them in water, they are fragile.
Good fishing!

[Wilson]

Caught mine on a Panther Martin

[FishFriend]

This may sound stupid but for some reason perhaps i was told but i didnt think shad could be caught wuthout snagging them so never tried nor bothered to acrually read up on them.. but good to know going to have to give it a shot this april

[surfrod]

I never knew there was much of a shad run on the Raritan!

Yes I read there will be a moratorium next year.

[ReelErIn]

I've never Shad fished think I might give it a try this Spring.
I've got the boat maybe I see if anyone here wants to get out on a weekday.
Last yr I spoke with a guy that wanted to get out on the Salt side but we never were able to hook up.
I'll give it a try again this yr.