Shad Show

[MarshCappa]

Originally Posted by riverrat2

If you cought a 8lb hickory it would be a world record by about 4 pounds I believe. Marshcappa most likely saw american shad apposed to hickories.

Yea I'd say they were the American. Do Shad stick around the entire season? I've never really targeted them before but have heard local guys talk about them all the time. We have rivers here where guys get really psyched for the Shad run and they get here weeks before the stripers. Are they good to eat and what's the size limit?

[riverrat2]

I am not sure of the size limit but they arent very good to eat in my opinion. The roe is thought to be a delacy but not my cup of tea. They are a blast on light tackle but can be extremely frustrating. They do not eat when they are in the rivers and the only reason they hit a shad dart is to move it out of there way. There mouths are paper thin so you have to use little to no drag. Poor mans salmon.

[Pete_G]

American shad are notoriously finicky. A good shad angler with the right darts will make an angler next to him with less experience and the wrong offering look quite pathetic. At some American shad spots you'll find willow leafs to be just as popular an offering as a dart. Occasional catches can be made on other items, but the effectiveness just isn't there. I grew up on the banks what I'm fairly sure is the only American Shad run in Narragansett Bay so I have plenty of time under my belt dealing with the American shad. Chartreuse green with a chartreuse body is my favorite dart. Always tipped with Flashabou. If you watch American shad in a fish ladder, they sometimes snap randomly at debris in the water. But something they almost always take a shot at is a shad scale drifting in the water. Flashabou in sort of colored like a shad scale. I've never caught an American in saltwater, but I've caught a whole bunch in freshwater.

Hickories are different breed and sometimes very aggressive. Fly anglers trying to catch schoolies sometimes get irritated with them. Basically if it's small a hick will try and eat it if it's in the right mood. A white fly is as good as almost anything. Obviously darts work too.