Fishing Log

Hello Dennis- you are the first person I have ever encountered who admits to eating the fish- lots of people eat & enjoy the roe- BUT- THE FISH - is a different story- I think it is one of the most unique tasting fish that swims- I just bake & or broil it- I too have passed the 70 mark- 75 - and hope I can continue shad fishing for years to come

Great story Superfisherman. Isn't it just amazing how the size of these fish has gone down, down, down from the "good old days?" I have another story (I have many) that is pretty amazing. My dad (the late John Scholl) and I went up to Milford many years ago late one afternoon in mid-May to fish the last few hours of the day. The river was low and we couldn't motor through a rapids that was below a little island we wanted to reach. So I got out and dragged the boat up along the shoreline while my dad walked. We got back into the boat ahead of the rapids and made it to our destination. I don't know that the island had a name; it was pretty small. Most of the river flowed around the Pennsy side of the island while a smaller portion of it came around the Jersey side. We anchored behind the island where the two streams converged. There was a shore fisherman down below us on the Jersey side and we gave him one heck of a show. The fish were in spawning mode and were very active late in the day. We each had two rods out with just a small dart, no split shot. We hammered them, or I should say they hammered us. It was just crazy. At one point we had four fish on at once and I remember just laughing and exchanging rods with each other to try to keep all the lines from getting tangled. I think we got three of them in. We had doubles and three fish at a time and it just didn't stop. I don't recall that there was much time when we didn't have two fish on. We didn't count because I think we would have lost count, but it was an evening on the river with my father that I will never forget. The back of the boat where we brought the fish in was a bloody, slimy, stinky mess. We went home with quite a few fish; these were the years before the six-fish limit, which is now three. We smoked a lot of shad and we also liked broiling them, so everything was consumed, including the roe. Those fish were big. Superfishermen said he was getting 6- to 8-pound fish and our's were in that category. Boggles my mind how nature has changed in four decades. I understand the Bi-State tournament that just ended was won by a 5.5-pound fish. Cheesh. I'd really like to know what's causing the fish to be smaller; I have my own theories. One other note: My dad was out by himself one day and boated a 26-inch, enormously egg-laden roe that weighed 9 pounds, four ounces. He got a Pennsylvania Angler Award for that fish and I have the picture in my office. I have never seen a shad that was so large, and I'm sure I never will again. Reminiscing about the good old days when the shad association was young and there was no technology to locate shad or get the darts down to them is good for the soul. I can't believe I'm going to be 70 years old this October, 47 years older than I was when the DRSFA started back in 1974. I hope I have several years left to enjoy this tremendous fishery.

Joseph, it's a great feeling I hope to have again this year. Right now, I'll be happy just getting a couple an hour. I'll be at Riegelsville again today in the blue boat with the Nittany Lion logos. And the frustrating leak that refuses to go away.

To Chiggy: I haven't really been checking this log since I wrote about your 35 fish in 3 hours. It's not that I didn't believe you but that's a helluva lot of fish in that amount of time. I had fishing like that once in my life, sometime back in the 80s when the river was pretty high. I launched at Scott Park in Easton and went down below the railroad bridge. I anchored right behind a piece of the shoreline that jutted into the river; with the high water, this little spit of land formed a nice eddy right behind it. I threw out mu lines on the edge of the current and the slack water and caught shad from the time I anchored until I got tired of it. I still have my fishing diary: 42 fish on in a little over three hours and 35 netted. So, yes, I do know it can happen. It got to the point where as soon as the lure sank, I had a fish on. Many doubles; it was just crazy. The fish were coming up through a pretty heavy rapids below me and obviously were taking a breather in that eddy. What luck that I happened to be there. I have had some other crazy times at Portland and up at Milford, but nothing like that rainy day below the confluence of the Lehigh River. Now that I'm retired, I hope to get some of the smarts back that I used to have. So far this season, I'm still pretty dumb. But my son has caught fish the two times he's been able to get out with me, and that more than makes my day. I'll try again tomorrow. I caught fish at Riegelsville last year every time I went out until I quit on May 24. I'm not into the long trips anymore when I can sit on the river just 20 minutes from my home. I miss Milford, Dingman's, Tocks Island, and especially Lackawaxen, but I just don't have the ambition to make those long trips. Hope you and everyone else here have good fishing.

Delaware River

Johnny K. Sounds like it's worth a try. Thanks.

NOAA monitoring has the river temps : 53F this morning and up to 54 now. I'm very surprised at how warm it's stayed. It feels brutal out there

The usgs gauge at Berryville said the water temp. went from 53 yesterday to 46 this mourning. The water is so low these temp. swings are really effecting it.

Yes Phil its still there but it is getting a little lighter sometimes you you can get two casts without cleaning off. We need a heavy rain to flush it on down the river. Had snow and 27 deg. this morning don't think they will be hitting today up where.

Phil, Fished north of dingmans on Tues. Water remp 52.5, wind, and plenty of algae. Caught 4, all before "river snot" screwed up spoons. 3pm to 630

Tuesday: April 20- Fished from 1:00pm-5pm- caught 1 nice buck- other man next to me had 5 in close to the same amount of time.

I got to the train bridge at Trenton yesterday afternoon. It's 11 minutes from my office and I had to set an alarm to get myself back in 35 minutes. Not a bump until I hooked into a nice fish just as the alarm went off. Naturally. Double dart rig. I didn't see the 3 boats with their 6 or 8 rods do any better than I did. A guy I spoke with, one of the regulars old timers asked me (?) if I thought the run was over yet. I said "Hell no!"

Above Smithfield beach today. Fished for an hour and a half. 0 fish, no bumps. Tried everything, darts , spoons, changed colors, zilch.

Come on Joseph C. You know it's me. I say we just have two teams. You could be a captain on one team and W.G. on the other. Who are you selecting. I hope I'm not the last person picked.

DONT FORGET THE BI STATE SHAD TOURNAMENT STARTS THURSDAY APRIL 22-25..IF U WANNA GET IN CALL ERIC AT 610-762-0440...20K GRAND PRIZE...TACKLE AND RIVER ANCHORS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE WEIGH STATION IF U NEED

I'm looking to start an annual Carl Spatz shad Tournement. Anyone interested? The only rule would be that W.G. and Joseph C would need someone counting there fish. Everyone. Else would be on there honor. Let me.know.

River stage 5.3....Water temp 53.....River low and clear but cold......Fish channels and current breaks...spotty catches from Lambertville to above the water gap.....Shore anglers find that channel.....Remember to wear pfds on boats less than 16ft.....It's the law....

Didn't we go through this a couple of weeks ago Dennis? You hoppin back on the Carl train?...Lol

Saturday morning at dawn was a skunk fest. I realized that night time temps in the low 40's will result in a case of lockjaw the next morning........... So I took that knowledge and hit the river at about 6:00 on Sunday PM. It was fish on the first cast and I ended up with 15 or 16 by the time I left at 7:30. I was surprised at how firmly the bite shut down as soon as the sun was off the water. I've caught fish into dusk when it was warmer. I was catching on double dart rigs except for when I lost my bottom dart a few times and just threw the one. I did fine with that, too. Bright colors produced and the bigger fish all seemed to be from the deepest water. ..... ..WG, missed ya. Good to see your posts. Great news that the fish are in the rivers earlier than we knew!

@Shadspoon- I fish there almost every day.... have I met you down there? What’s your email address? I can give you some direction down there if you want

Remember when the NJ fish abd wikdlife round START to put acoustical instruments on the new hope bridge Around the first of May??? How many hundreds of thousands of shad were NOT counted in those years, grossly underestimating the shad population in the Delaware. Thank God for the old Woofish site and all the new social media sites where actual pictures can prove that shad begin to run the river in late February regardless of water temps and if they are being caught!!! Hopefully the biologists in charge of shad restoration will use this data to help in their restoration! Meanwhile on the Susquehanna river, American shad have been caught for several weeks now but there has been NO operation of the fish lift fo assist them upstream from Conowingo!! The Susquehanna restoration is lost until they START operating the lifts in March so the shad can actually make it far upstream past all dams before water temps get above spawning temps....but hey, what do I know? I’m just a dumb shad fisherman haha

Fished Saturday in harmony area with my son and his buddy ,they got 3 each and lost 4, water temp 44 degrees , caught all fish on downriggers with spoons. Water clear with very little debris, all fish where down deep.

River stage 5.9.....temp 53.....fish being caught in the entire river....lots of fish being netted by Lewis Fishery in Lambertville this week.....tonight's cold might shut down the bite for a few days....next week's weather sounds like great shad fishing weather......good luck all.....

I think I'm going to catch shad as the sun comes up tomorrow. It's going to be a very nice morning. The fish are going to be very cooperative.