FishwithJD

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Underwater Shad Bite Video

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I finally got a chance to play around with my new Okuma [easyazon_link identifier=”B00PJ27DRC” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Water Wolf[/easyazon_link] Underwater Video camera the other day while out on a shad trip. I ran the thing back a few times on my line and did manage to catch a shad eating my mini jig.

I’d never seen video before of a shad bite, so it was pretty cool. At least with this fish, there was no doubt that he wanted to inhale my lure

I’ll try to get the Water Wolf into the water more this week!

Check out my UNDERWATER PIX & VIDEO section for more

Can I eat shad??

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JD

Can a person eat shad? if so… how?

–Mike

Mike, well I must say that, though I’ve caught a zillion of them, I’ve never eaten one. On the East Coast (where shad originated) they are an important food fish and in fact, their scientific name, alosa sapidissima means “most savory.”

I don’t think there’s any question that the shad has some value as a food fish…after all, people eat other herrings all around the world. However, the big issue here is they’re full of bones — three rows of Y bones to be exact. In doing some internet searching for shad recipes, here are some of the quotes I found that may tell you all you need to know…

Jay Harlow at sallybernstein.com starts his article on cooking shad with this quote:

“Some foods seem to have been put on earth to challenge the ingenuity of the cook…”

Hank Shaw on about.com has this to say:

“From an eating standpoint, the American or White Shad is a mixed blessing. Shad are richly flavored thanks to a good bit of omega-3 laden fat, but they are among the boniest fish in the world. An old Indian saying has it that a porcupine fled into the water and was turned inside out to become the shad. It is not far off.”

So, I guess you can make your mind up from there…

Shadosaurus Rex

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big-shad-1
So, I had some guys out shad fishing on the American River last night and Mike O’Connell of Danville hooks into this thing that looks like a striper in the water…wait, no, is that a small king?? That can’t be a shad…what the hell is it?

Holy crap…that is a shad!

In fact, it was definitely the largest shad I’ve ever seen. My Boga had it at 6 point something pounds and a quick guesstamation put her at about 24-25 inches. Even at that, she was still a pound and change off the state record and 5 pounds off the world mark. Can you imagine an 11-pound shad? If these things got to 20 pounds, you’d never land ’em!Click here to read more…

A good day on the creek!

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bryces-bass
Well, we had a good day on the ol’ Rio Americano Wednesday…I have a couple of shad/striper trips — a half day morning run and then a full day mission until dark after that…and the fishing was about as good as you can get!

We started off throwing swimbaits for stripers and caught a couple dandies…the 20ish pounder above taken by Bryce Roberts of Auburn, CA and then another nice one, caught by Jay Lopes, who was taking the day off from running halibut charters in the Bay…

Even the salty skipper needs to get bit once in a while!

Even the salty skipper needs to get bit once in a while!

But that only tells half of the story…
Click here to read more…

The Ultimate Guide to Shad Fishing

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Nice Shad
American Shad ascend rivers on both the West and East Coasts in the spring months and are an absolute blast to catch on light tackle! While not a super sophisticated fish, there are a few things you need to know to consistently score. Here are some tips and tricks to help you catch a bunch of shad this season. By the way, if you’d like to go on a guided shad fishing trip in the Sacramento area, be sure to click on my website www.theportfisher.com

Getting to Know the American Shad

For the uninitiated, shad are over-grown members of the herring family that spend most of their life in the ocean and then return to freshwater rivers to spawn (like salmon, only most shad don’t die after spawning).

Native to the East Coast, shad were transplanted to the West in the 1800’s and have flourished since. Out West, the Columbia River plays host to the largest runs followed by the Sacramento River and her main tributaries, the American, Feather and Yuba rivers. Back East, shad roam the Atlantic from Florida to Nova Scotia and spawn in many drainages in-between, including the Delaware, Susquehanna, Juniata, Delaware, Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers.

Shad are cool...deep bodied, with silvery flanks and a purple back.

Shad are cool…deep bodied, with silvery flanks and a purple back.

Depending on the location and temperature, the first waves of American Shad arrive sometime April and fishing can last through June and into July in some streams.

Click here to read more…