Fishing Log

Mike, I guess we disagree on the taste of shad. I don't disagree with you about the run although I honestly haven't been out enough yet to get a good gauge on things. I've been to Riegelsville six times and the best fishing I've seen and experienced was not this past week, but the week before. Then the cold snap hit and then it got hot again. Odd spring. I'll be out Monday and Tuesday at Riegelsville again. I did well there last year until about the 20th, then I quit for the year. The guys who I have seen consistently catching them are using the crankbaits and downriggers. Number of boats in that stretch is going down, though that makes sense.

Shad Harris I use the term old timer with respect and reverence. I do hope you are wrong but time is beginning to run out for me and prove you right. This should be the defining week. Good luck

Rob W thanks for calling me an old-timer. Lol. Last season u were on a body of fish that decided to take residence there. They were not migrating. Lack of fish creates lack of volume and lack of fish continually moving up to make room for those coming behind them. Last year was a pretty poor run. This season is worse. I will still go on occasion but main run should be thick in all the areas I fish and they are not. My best stretches are not far south of you.

First time out for shad on Tuesday evening above the gap, no shad or hits and put on a 6" rapala at dusk, first cast hooked a small musky about 14". Had another swipe at it a couple casts later. Found out later the state stocked musky in that size range this year tho they have had a musky program for years, but don't know the last time they stocked the Delaware. There was a boater back 2 or 3 years ago who I've seen specifically fishing for musky. My guess is they probably stock musky and walleye also every couple of years. Not the best for young shad or smaller fish in general.

Through all the years I have been shad fishing, every time someone told me they ate those vile fish, I would almost loose my lunch. Only tasted them once but that was enough for me!

Received reports yesterday that past Bi-State winner Kurt A went into the drink up to his neck. Thankfully he is fine, just a little waterlogged.

5/6 from shore last night south of Easton. Beautiful evening

I took an hour to see what was popping at the Trenton bridges. Water looked beautiful. Nothin.

Fished north of dingmans water temp 59, river snot, clear water, and wind. Only caught one shad. Just one. Last year at this time, 35 fish in half a day was the norm. Very little fish on fish finder. I might reluctantly agree with some of the old timers that this could be a poor run.

Hey, fished Washington’s Crossing to NewHope as a kid, finally want a chance to land the Tarpon of the Delaware

Caught 2 today. The guy above me the same, he got 2. Water low and clear. This time last year was averaging around 8 to 12 fish in the same spots. Maybe May’s the month. Time will tell.

Superfisherman, I've always liked the taste of shad except for the very first one my mother prepared back in 1964 when hardly anyone knew these fish existed. She heard that if you baked it for like four hours in a pan with milk, that the milk would somehow soften the bones and make the fish edible. It was awful. Cardboard is better than that. So we began broiling the fish and sauteeing the roe and we just loved it. Bones? Of course, but you eventually learn where they are and can avoid most of them. This year I've been "de-boning" the backbone area that's left over after you cut off the two fillets. I have a very thin-bladed fillet knife and just take my time slowly slicing away what's left. It's surprising how much boneless meat is still attached the backbone an side bones. So far the roe this year has been excellent. Still tiny and golden yellow. Wrap sa strip of bacon around each roe sac and sautee for about 8 minutes, turning each sac once or twice. I've been freezing the fish I caught so far because my wife and son (and I) love smoked shad. It's always a hit at family dinners as an hors 'oeuvres. I better get out and catch some more; my year has been pretty sub-par. PS - Shad's Latin name is Alossa sapidissima, meaning "most excellent of fish."

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!"