Sea herring
 

Anyone fish them? Worth going out in the cold for them? My kids tins of kipperd snacks and were saying they wish we could catch our own and smoke them. Anything to know other than drop a sabiki and hope?

Wouldn't know where to find them in close, and to risk misidentifying them ; )

I think it is cool they want to catch their own :btu:

fish for hickory shad …...real close & much larger ><., same style fishing ><>

This.
Also, check the well known spring squid spots... Herring and Macks often make an appearance there in Nov/Dec, but not a guarantee.

Don’t sea herring run up the Sakonnet this time of year driven by dolphins? I’ve seen the dolphins several times.
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I caught them at the marina near me. Heard they are frequently in Milford harbor also. I pickeled them. The stuff put in w/the herring tasted better than the herring. I used a small tin on the bottom of the sabiki and caught on that. Others used a lead weight on the bottom. I don't think they came in last year as the winter was fairly warm.

A friend froze some and chunked w/them in the spring and cleans up.

I hay or may not have done that before, but saved them for big fluke bait (with tinkers) years ago... :hidin:

We were getting them mixed with the mackerel this past week... Sea herring and river herring. Clear difference between the two.

Small sabiki trees and deep where we were...

Worth it?? I don't eat pickled herring so not for me...but then I eat smoked, grilled, baked and fried Mackerel...so the "worth" is up to you, being that you have a decent fishery in your area (for them)?

I think they are somewhat commonly fished this time of year, particularly in Long island sound harbors and river mouths like Paul reported. I believe there is no risk of taking river herring under those conditions in December. I plan to smoke them as commercially available smoked sea herring is delicious. Guess I will just have to give it a go once the togging is over and the waters are frosty.
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Don't think I am gonna want to eat hickory shad even smoked am I?Though I do love smoked American shad.
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The CT side of LI Sound doesn't have near the run seen on the NY side, and the south side of Long Island is even better. They can be had in smallish numbers in places like Milford Harbor and the Norwalk River, but I have not heard of any that far inside the Sound yet this year.

As noted, hickory shad may be a better and much easier option right now (I couldn't get through them to the bass recently in one of my holdover spots) and from what I have heard they are just as good as sea herring both smoked and pickled. Just keep in mind that on the hickories here in CT there is a 6-fish bag limit.

Thanks Toby. Should have supposed they would be ok smoked. There was definitely no shortage of hickories last time I was in the local river. More fun for the kids to catch too.
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