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shad the rapper | bucks county | Thursday March 30th 5:57 pm
About 15 shad today between 1 and 4pm. Mostly bucks and a few roe. We had a flurry of fish casting darts briefly but most came on the poor mans D rigger. couple walleye on the f-spoons too.
George B | Conshohocken, PA | Thursday March 30th 12:23 pm
Joseph, This was in The Inquirer earlier this week regarding the MLK bridge traffic. "Inbound bicycle and pedestrian traffic will be redirected from Sweetbriar Drive, Lansdowne Drive, 34th Street, and Mantua Avenue to the Spring Garden Street Bridge." I've parked near the Drexel Campus, just a few blocks from the Spring Garden Bridge, I plan to go down this weekend, park near 31st and Hamilton on the campus. I'll let you know how I make out.
Joseph C. | Phoenixville & Princeton | Thursday March 30th 8:31 am
"It's going to be two years until the Martin Luther King Drive Bridge over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia is ready for drivers, bikers and pedestrians again." per NBC 10 ...The nearest point at which I think I can park safely is at the Zoo, and then work my way down to the MLK Drive pedestrian path by way of Sweetbriar Drive. About 1.5 miles of walking each way. Might be worth it once in a while, but not as often as I would otherwise be going there. Any local knowledge to make it easier, anybody?
| | Wednesday March 29th 8:33 pm
Several landed from shore again today Easton area
shad the rapper | bucks county | Wednesday March 29th 8:05 pm
We had a steady pick today about 15 shad in all with some ldr. Even mix of roe and buck. Nothing casting darts today all fish were caught on poor mans DR. Some debris in the water ,Temp about 47.5 degrees.
RPS | Greeley Pa. | Wednesday March 29th 6:37 pm
Fished Zane Grey from shore this after noon 3:30 - 6 pm. got 0 water temp. was 43 deg.
| | Wednesday March 29th 1:33 am
How did it taste Adam?
| | Wednesday March 29th 1:31 am
4 landed 2 LDR afternoon bite Easton area casting spoon
shad the rapper | buck county | Tuesday March 28th 11:46 pm
.......and today we got about 10 with some ldr. pretty much nonstop for a little over and hr. 9buck and 1 smaller roe. We cut back to one shad rod to slow things down alittle so we could fish for walleye at the same time which we were able to get 5. The shad were caught on poor mans D Rigger. water temp was 47.3 degrees Fish on!!
shad the rapper | bucks county | Tuesday March 28th 11:34 pm
Put me down for 8 shad and some ldr on 3/27 before the rain came along. mix or roe and buck. casting darts and poor mans down riggers were working.
Adam P. | Bordentown/Burlington | Tuesday March 28th 2:25 pm
caught it during in-coming tide, a mile and some change past the Burlington Bristol bridge on a spoon.
Anthony | | Tuesday March 28th 12:50 pm
Anybody catching anything at the Water gap or further north yet ?
RPS | Greeley Pa' | Tuesday March 28th 11:31 am
Shad The Rapper thanks I'll do that. I'm going to be parking it at Zane Grey parking lot while I'm shad fishing this year too.
Joseph C. | Phoenixville & Princeton | Tuesday March 28th 7:37 am
David, all 3 of my fish were legit strikes with the hook set in the mouth.
Joseph C. | Phoenixville, PA / Ewing, NJ | Tuesday March 28th 7:33 am
After an exciting start on St. Patrick's Day I haven't yet landed another fish. Cold water, I guess. Here's a question for my Philly Center City Colleagues: With construction beginning on the MLK Drive bridge is there any way to get from the Museum side of the river to the western side? I can't come up with any way to get myself into position to fish the western end of the Fairmount Dam. Can anybody help me out with a brilliant suggestion here?
Phil M. | Sandyston | Monday March 27th 9:51 pm
Johnny5: Yes, this is very concerning. 8,100 gallons into Otter Creek, a Big D. tributary. These chemicals are used for making paints, coatings, caulk sealants and adhesives. Reminds me of the days of the "Pollution Barrier" that almost ended the shad run forever. This group is in a unique position to monitor any patterns of fish poisoning and we should do so. Below is a list of the contents of the spill. butyl acrylate ethyl acrylate methyle methacrylate
shad the rapper | bucks county | Monday March 27th 6:40 pm
Hi RPS, why dont you put the details and a pic of your G3 in the classifieds on this website? Just suggesting.
Shad the Rapper | bucks county | Monday March 27th 6:00 pm
Did good yesterday and to today before the rain in all the usual spots. Most on poor mans downriggers and some casting darts. Mostly roe in the 20 to 22" range with some smaller bucks18" mixed in. About a dozen or so total fish for 3hrs fishing with some ldr.
Johnny5 | Buckingham | Monday March 27th 11:12 am
Hey all, checking in to see if anyone has noticed any drop in the run anywhere north of Bristol due to the latex spill. I’m hoping it doesn’t kill a bunch of fish!
She Got a Donkey | Byram | Sunday March 26th 6:20 pm
Gentlemen, any reports of Shad in the New Hope area?
RPS | Greeley Pa. | Saturday March 25th 1:41 pm
Selling my G3 1656 CCJ DLX boat has 60/40 yamaha jet 24 volt trolling motor and 30 lb electric anchor pluse more. whole rig only has 9 hrs. on it.
David | Robbinsville, NJ | Saturday March 25th 12:50 pm
Joseph, Were the three you caught hooked on the outside of the mouth by any chance? I have had the same experience with the fish swallowing the spoons especially once the water warms into the mid 50's. In forty years I never had one swallow a dart! Flutter spoons became a big hit with the crowd that used to fish "the cove" at Trenton Power plant back in the "good old days". They seemed to work better than darts when the fish were holding in some of the slack water that used to form along the jetty at high tide. (You couldn't get a good drift with a dart but you could fish a flutter spoon like an inline spinner and smack the fish). For the angler who wades, the darts work better when you can effectively drift them and find the fish in the swing towards the last 1/3 of the drift.
Jack | | Saturday March 25th 12:18 pm
Thanks David
David | Robbinsville, NJ | Saturday March 25th 11:54 am
Jack, I tie a small amount of calf tail on my darts. Twister tails creat too much line twist especially for double dart rigs.
Robert Wright | Montague | Friday March 24th 10:23 pm
Charlie Thanks
shad the rapper | | Friday March 24th 10:04 pm
Shad from today. nice color
shad the rapper | | Friday March 24th 9:58 pm
I mean 20 feet not inches, behind the boat
shad the rapper | | Friday March 24th 9:56 pm
ldr=lost during retrieve poor mans downrigger=deepdiving crankbait with a flutterspoon tied to the tail. so remove the tail treble hook of your crank bait and tie on a fluttersppoon with 18" of leader and drop it out the back of the boat 20" feet or so. Change the amount of line you have out and boat location until you find the fish.
Robert Wright | Montague | Friday March 24th 8:47 pm
Charlie, Nice catch for March. What does 'ldr" mean and what is a poor man's downrigger? Just trying to be a better fisherman up north. Thanks
charlie 1st a.k.a. Shad the Rapper | above trenton | Friday March 24th 8:06 pm
we did good today with about 8 or 9 landed and some ldr . mostly nice size roe and 1 small buck. poor mans down riggers and casting darts got fish.
Jack | | Friday March 24th 7:09 pm
Do you guys using the double dart rigs use twister tails? Thanks
Joseph C. | Phoenixville, PA / Ewing, NJ | Friday March 24th 7:41 am
David, that's the ticket for my double dart rigs, though after tying a few dozen of them I don't actually measure. The 3 fish I've landed this year all hit the back dart - 1/32. When the water's warmer and the fish are more aggressive, they will hit them more evenly with an occasional double (yes, tricky to successfully get them both landed). I also find that darts are rarely swallowed, unlike flutter spoons. ....I certainly look forward to things warming up a bit.
Duff | | Thursday March 23rd 8:52 pm
Slow pick. But; Sent some Big Girls are on their way to Easton yesterday and today.
Tony R | | Thursday March 23rd 7:02 pm
Any reports of shad below Conowingo Dam ??
David | Robbinsville, NJ | Wednesday March 22nd 10:38 pm
Here is how I tie my double dart rigs: I tie a larger dart 1/4 ounce to the end of the main line. Then I tie an 18 inch piece of 10lb mono off the back of eyelit of that dart using an improved clinch knot. I then trail a smaller dart (1/32 ounce) behind it by tying it to the end of the 10lb leader. You can experiment with different weight combinations (depending on the current)until you find the right drift and dept the fish are holding at. IE 1/4 + 1/16, 1/8 ounce + 1/16. Two 1/8 etc… Hope this helps.
David | Robbinsville, NJ | Wednesday March 22nd 10:15 pm
Joseph, Fireman’s Island is an emergency river rescue access for the idiots who try to shoot the wing dam! I remember trout fishing in the canal with my father on an Easter Sunday back in 1977 when I watched Lambertville Rescue Squad bring two bodies over the canal bridge right there by the flee market on Rt 29. I will never forget how blue they were! Let that be a lesson to all who fish around the chute in the wing dam, it is the most dangerous place on the Delaware river!
RPS | Greeley | Wednesday March 22nd 9:39 pm
Fished Zane Grey this afternoon 2 - 4 pm caught one fall fish then it got to windy water temp. 42.6 deg. water was clear.
Anthony | | Wednesday March 22nd 9:41 am
I think using a 3 way swivel to fish a double dart rig is better because when you rig with a loop knot with 2 tails and get 2 shad on the chances of the line breaking is greater. You then might lose both fish with both of your darts or spoons etc. The 3 way swivel has 2 separate lines and reduces that. Granted, at anytime when fishing you have the possibility of losing everything anyway. Good luck with either way you rig up. It's all just personal preference.
| | Tuesday March 21st 11:15 pm
Joseph C, that story was almost as gripping as Timothys but Karl Spaz just wants to know about reports of fish caught, not tall tales. Please tell him about doubles and triples caught on kernel corn
Joseph C. | Phoenixville, PA / Ewing, NJ | Tuesday March 21st 8:52 pm
....4. I was standing on the "beach" at the Fireman's Eddy boat launch talking to a guy bottom fishing next to me when I saw a kayak out in midstream, upside down. It was followed by another kayak, also upside down, carrying a woman holding on. I asked her if she was okay. Not surprisingly, she said NO! and that she couldn't get the kayak to move out of the current and couldn't let go. And she didn't know where her husband was (remember the first kayak?) The guy next to me made the 911 call, the parking lot proceeded to fill up with first responder types, the husband came pounding down from upstream somewhere and fishing went to hell. Truthfully, I'd only been there for 15 minutes when the excitement started and wasn't catching anything anyway. The airboat boomed down river from Lambertville and came back after a bit with the lady on board. I don't know about the kayaks because I was on my way home.
Joseph C. | Phoenixville, PA / Ewing, NJ | Tuesday March 21st 8:39 pm
1. Timothy, that stuff is like a poor excuse for chatbot nonsense. ....2. Henry, do a search for "tides at Trenton" and you will find the USGS river monitoring page. that's where I get my flow rate and water temp data. Then do a search for "tides at Trenton, NJ" and you will have a few choices for sites. .......3.The water is certainly low, but that doesn't slow the shad down. It's beautifully clear and the fish are probably enjoying it. The run is well under way. The fish have been moving along up the river for a few weeks, at least. The boat crews are catching them with downriggers way north, probably above Easton by now. I don't know as I don't fish that area or style. I think the main issue we're encountering is that the water is so friggin' cold. Unless you bounce the spoon off their nose they probably won't pay a bit of attention to anything. My best idea is to try the late afternoon on these sunny days hoping to find a fish that's inspired by the bump in temp to snap at an aggravating dart. That's what I was trying this afternoon when...
Henry W | Sewell | Tuesday March 21st 3:40 pm
I was at Lambertville this morning on the Wing dam from 10 till 12. Water was rushing toward Trenton and the level is still low! Then I went down to Trenton at the Arm and Hammer ball park at about 1:00 and it was low there too. So spent 3 hours with not a single shad. Can anybody tell us when the shad run will start ? Is there a tide chart that will give a good prediction of the tides ? George of Bordentown you mentioned that the best time is first hour of incoming tide . what site for tides do you use ? Thanks Henry of Sewell
| | Tuesday March 21st 2:20 pm
Thanks Joseph C. ken
Joseph C. | Phoenixville, PA / Ewing, NJ | Tuesday March 21st 11:02 am
Ken, I tie my larger dart on an 8 or 10# mono leader of about 15 or 18" using a loop knot. I use the same knot to tie a 15" leader to a smaller dart then tie that smaller dart's leader to the eye of the larger dart using an improved clinch knot. At the top of the rig, I tie a simple loop and attach that to the snap swivel at the end of my line (10# braid). Some people would say that 10# braid is pretty heavy, but I think it casts fine and it lets me bend a dart's hook off a snag more often than losing the whole rig. Also, this year I'm trying about 6' of mono as a topshot to reduce the visibility of the main line.
Joseph C. | Phoenixville & Princeton | Tuesday March 21st 10:32 am
I gave the Schuylkill a shot for less than 1 hour yesterday afternoon. It was just past high tide. Water temp about 46F. No joy. It looks like they are about to close the MLK Drive bridge between the Art Museum and the west side of the river for repairs on 3/27. We'll see if this is going to make Schuylkill fishing areas inaccessible or nearly so.
George | Bordentown | Monday March 20th 9:31 pm
A triple dart rig with two double overhand knots and an improved clinch knot is best. Post pics of your triples.
| | Monday March 20th 5:31 pm
loose lips sink ships Spaz
ken | va | Monday March 20th 3:32 pm
Joseph C how do you tie your double dart rig? thanks
Karl Spatz | | Monday March 20th 2:49 pm
Any shad coming up the river? I hope nobody is gonna lie this year about their reports. Loose lines Karl
George | Bordentown boat ramp | Saturday March 18th 10:38 pm
Dave, thanks for that information.

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