Quote:
Originally Posted by thmyorke1
My time on the raritan this spring where shad all stack up say otherwise, caught a 33 inch flathead the same time stripes and shad were up river, as well as ~8 other flatheads that day between 3 other anglers.
Those smaller flatheads were eating 3-5 inch swimbaits.
If you think a flathead isn't going to appetize an American shad, be it a YOY one or a big juicy one from the ocean, I have to disagree.
Although I agree they should study the contents of the stomachs and get real evidence |
I thought we were talking about the impact of flatheads and snakeheads in the Delaware River, not the Raritan. What I said is in my opinion flatheads are having little to no impact on that fishery and I've never caught, seen caught or heard another angler say they saw an American Shad spit up by or found in a flatheads stomach. FE, you're the resident flathead expert on the site, have you ever seen or heard of a flathead spitting up an American Shad, adult or juvenile?
In the spring, flatheads are just coming out of an almost complete catatonic state from the winter when they essentially lie on the river bottom not moving. Here's a link if you're interested. They're stacked up like cord wood on the river bottom and essentially don't feed or move.
https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/com...c/cats_857786/
In the spring when the shad run is in full swing, flatheads are just getting active and I don't believe at the rate shad are moving upriver, usually following the main current of the river, many succumb to flatheads. Does that mean some don't get picked off, no. But I don't believe it's of any significance since most shad will be upriver where there's a significantly lesser population of flatheads to matter by the time flatheads become aggressive leading up to their spawn which usually occurs between May and June dependent on water temperature.
If in the fall you believe flatheads are keying in on 2-3" juvenile shad high in the water column during their downstream migration to the sea then you don't understand the feeding habits of flatheads preparing for the long winter ahead when they virtually go dormant. I would expect stripers, walleye and smallmouths kill significantly more juvenile shad than flatheads ever will.
As far as your catch this spring in the Raritan, I'm going to guess most of the flatheads you saw caught were below the dam. This year because of an extremely mild winter with no snow, everything started early. Flathead will start moving upriver in anticipation of their spawn in the spring, are most schooled up that time of year and most vulnerable. They also have more of a tendency to feed during the day than the hot summer months when they spend the day in the deep cooler pools and cruise the shallows at night in search of forage. In my experience, spring is the one time of year you'll see flatheads hit a slow moving weighted swim shad or something fished close to the bottom in an area with good cover or rubble. Based on your pictures, you were fishing below a dam where baitfish, stripers and migrating shad were probably stacked up. There's no dams on the Delaware and it's a much wider river which is a completely different dynamic and again in my opinion why I don't believe flatheads are having any measurable impact on American Shad either during the adult run in April / May or when the juveniles are heading back to the sea in the fall.
