Fishing Log

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.

Braided line definitely has advantages over mono but do your homework. Not all braids are created equal. Carrier or strand count being the biggest difference. Power pro is a 4 or 5 strand count where some of the Diawa lines as well as Berkley are 8 or even 9 strands. The higher strand count will cast farther and react much smoother through the rod guides.( kind of like mud and snow tires vs. smooth all terrain tires on smooth road) The higher strand count lines are more money but have better resistance to fuzzing up in my experience. I never tie sinkers directly to the line when rigging for shad but use a sliding bullet weigh above the swivel then a 3 or 4 ft piece of flouro leader to the dart.

Thanks for all the answers, guys!

if you actually read Dennis’s post he asked for good and bad… Which is what I believe I offered up. In the end the decision is his anyway. What works for me doesn’t necessarily work for you.

Correct…. Aren’t silicon nitride considered “modern guides”

That's palomar knot, if you look it up. Great knot and so easy to tie and minimal line waste if you do it correctly.

Dennis. braid has advantages and disadvantages, advantages are higher strength to diameter ratio and almost zero stretch. Disadvantages are almost no abrasion resistance plus it picks up dirt which cuts through almost everything on your equipment (including bare skin on your hands). Unless you have nitrided guides and line rollers on your reels it will inevitable cut grooves. In my opinion you can’t go wrong with a high quality 6 lb mono for shad. Of course you will need to learn how to set your drag and properly play your fish. I have landed sever 30+ lb strippers on 14 lb line. And have fished mono for over 50 years. Suffix, Trilene XL, Original Stren are all good choices).

Hi. Can anyone tell me more about Powerpro braided fishing line. Never used it, don’t know it’s good or bad points. Would like to try it. I see @ShadHarris is using 5-lb. Powerpro braided.Is that the right ticket for Shad? Thanks.

Knowing all that rain would not stain or raise river today, I slept in to miss the worst of the rain and wind. Started wading N of water gap 11:30 and it was a shad every other cast for first 30 minutes landing 6, 5 were nice roe up to 4lbs - all on 1/32 ounce chartreuse green dart and UV green tail, 30 inches of 8# floro behind a 1/4 ounce in-line sinker attached to a 9' 6" G Loomis noodle road with a Pflueger President XT reel spooled with 5# Powerpro braid. The next hour landed 7 more now at 13 for 13 no bumps or missed hits. Hung in for one more hour quitting at 2pm ending up going 2 for 3 that last hour. So overall - 15 of 16 hookups and no other hits in 3.5 hours. Started out great but tapered out the more I fished. River crystal clear and not yet rising but tomorrow will be roiled up for sure. My hands and feet were frozen it was barely 49-50 degrees out and raining most of the time although not too hard, and water temp back down to 50-51... COLD but man what fish were there crushed it hard and very aggressive. Like I said no bumps every fish was hooked good.

@ShadHarris-you are very correct that flatheads take a huge fill in adult shad. Below Conowingo the guys that keep them say there are 5-10 in each catfish they catch! Hickory and Avery can shad plus herring….they are eating machines, like tye cormorants that are now at above historic levels! The dam at Conowingo (or any dam) creates an ambush point for those ….now that Blue catfish have been introduced and are getting larger (I’ve seen 35+ pounders) and will top out over 100 pounds, they too will take their toll on the shad….not sure if they have made it to the Delaware yet, but they will unfortunately…ugh

The fish are small, were larger in March and the past few years have been larger again in May. I would not be surprised if that happens again this year, again the numbers are fine.

Size????