Fishing Log

Decent day today. Caught 17 up north plus 1 double.

Only had a short time to fish Lambertville this am today small gold spoon worked better than silver . Caught on buck on silver one buck and 3 small roe on gold still hitting when I left at 7 am.also stripers are here chasing shad and herring around.might have another week down here .

Caught 5 this am at Lambertville on my new favorite small silver spoon plus one nice walleye.3 small roe and 2 buck.like the last few times shut down at 730.

just wondering how high up on the Delaware the shad are on at this time, May 13

Another good evening on the river. Took a non believer fishing, who is now a believer. Boated 38, lost many. Water temp 63, plenty of debris, river still up, clarity getting better. Contrary to many, I think this is a terrific run this year.

5 from the boat out of Byram this morning. Much like the fisherman at Lambertville experienced, action shut down totally at about 9 am. Hoping for a few more days in my area.

I checked on the River below Lambertville for half an hour on the way home yesterday. No joy. I did catch one fish though, a first - I hooked a gizzard shad. I've snagged them fairly often before but this was the first time one actually ate a dart. Climate change?

6 more today plus 2 fallfish. Slow day for almost 3 hr outing. Tried darts spoons different colors just weren’t active.

Caught 13 out of 17 from shore at Lambertville on small silver spoon.about half and half also caught several herring lots of them around.river still a little high lots of debris but plenty of fish around.

Fished Zane Grey from shore today 4 - 6:30 pm hooked 7 landed 2 water temp. was 59.1 deg.

Another 6 Shad day plus 1 bonus smallie just shy of 20 inches that hit a green and white dart.

There r still plenty of shad in easton area.i catch them there every year into June with no crowds

Anyone know if Shad are still around Easton or is it too late to fish that low? Thanks!

River receding nicely but FULL of junk. Spent most of the time cleaning my lines. Got 2 10 minutes after I anchored and then nothing in the next two hours.

Great report RPS! That’s how it is supposed to be.

Wader-fished above Barryville, NY today from 5:15 to 7:30 pm. Water up 3 1/2 feet over normal; a wader's delight. Landed 11 of 14 and a smallmouth, with several head-butts thrown in. Was 1 day after full moon. Water temp 54, cockfish early, hens later. Threw 1/8oz. darts with hair shortened by me with scissors and most came on red/white/yellow tail. Was using a rod that was too short and stiff, and I think I could have made longer casts with my usual 6.5 footer and done a bit better, but a decent outing nevertheless.

Caught an 18” hickory shad on Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle Ava A-17 in Manasquan Inlet on the low tide this afternoon. Landed 5 shad there this year.

I usually fish for shad at Worthington in mid may but for the last 3 yrs. have been disappointed by extreme weather or high river conditions I know it's a crap shoot but I live in S.Jersey now so it's a three hr. trip. I would like to plan the trip based on weather and fishing conditions.

DENNIS S; NJ still stocks walleye. there are lots of both species in the delaware.

5 to 7 feet of 10 pound test mono. That might be too heavy for thinner water areas but in the lower Delaware and the Schuylkill it seems not to hurt. I use it for my rigs too, usually, but have used 8 pound test on occassions.

Joseph C, I’m a little confused. You said you use 10# braid and can bend the hook on your jig instead of losing it but then you mention you put a 5-7# piece of mono on and a swivel . Wouldn’t the mono break before the braid which cause you to lose your jig ?

Dennis - don’t stress over braid. I been using it for more years than I can count alongside mono. For shad and saltwater I am about done with mono. It just feels better. For shad - just do the 5# power pro no need to try the other stuff because I have done it all in 6#. Regardless of what u try no need to go above 6# for wading / casting. Just do the palomar knot at your junction and u will be fine. Imagine - a line that casts nearly twice as far as mono and has zero stretch so u fell every tap.

Again, thanks to all who dispensed their knowledge with braided line. Seeing that the river will be too high for me to fish this week, I am going to order some braided line. I’m going to try PowerPro 5# and either a Daiwa or Berkeley line, although I don’t know what pound test. I’ve been fishing for Shad since I was 12 years old in 1963. I have always used mono, usually Stren, and honestly I have never had any problems or complaints since I always got fresh line each year. Now I’m going to prove that even old dogs CAN learn new tricks. So, when I go out next week I will have one rod with 6# mono, another with PowerPro 5# and a third rod with either Daiwa or Berkley braided. Someone please tell me what pound test for the Daiwa or Berkley. When last on the river (two weeks ago) the river was running at about 6,000 to 7,000 CFS. I just looked at the Riegelsville gauge data and the river is 48,700 CFS and rising. Yikes! I don’t expect it to drop drastically by this Friday but that is my only day to fish. Oh, well. So, let me know about the Daiwa and Berkley and my experiments will begin the next time out. Don’t like that cinch knots won’t work with braided line. Bummer.

Is Conowingo really posted about the avian flu? I heard you can not go along the bank beyond the boat launch or on the bike trail.