Fishing Log

Kieth K— Never heard of that spot but that looks like a perfect location with the current break created by that point. However, catches have been very spotty since the water temp is still not at 50°. Temperatures are a little warmer in the Schuylkill, and if you live in Narberth you are pretty close to the Fairmont dam. They should be stacked up there. Not sure how the access is with all the craziness going on, and it can be a little hairy to access even in good times (there is a tiny area to park on West River Drive), and don’t go alone at night. But I’d go there at high tide if I were trying to break the skunk.

Thanks to Rcrusty and Joseph C. for the double rig tips. And in my previous post I called a non-profit the Friends of the Delaware. I left out the word Canal, as in Friends of the Delaware Canal.

Keith K - Somebody who knows this section of river would be your best bet but if you never had a hook-up you probably aren't reaching the shad. Either they aren't there are you aren't reaching them in depth. If you never get snagged or bump bottom then you're too shallow if the shad are present. Try as far out as you can cast and all repeat cast shorter then the last while trying different depths. Try as light as possible on trailer darts or spoons with 1/8 or 1/4 dart or sinker on the lead. So the trailer appears to float behind. You can try shorter leaders also, and longer. I've caught shad with only a 16" trailer. Good luck and I admire your persistence.

What's wrong with this picture. Fished from shore at Prallsville Mills (NJ side) yesterday (Saturday, 4/25). Three of us threw double dart rigs and dart / flutter spoon rigs for 3 hours into a nice current where some deep water it met an eddy. Even a nice slow spot behind a large rock. Water temp was 52 degrees. Not a single hit. We've been trying for 3 years and haven't hooked a single shad yet. What am I doing wrong?

Question, and please excuse my ignorance. I have always used a single dart but would like to try a double rig. How do you guys attach the second dart? Yes, you'd think I would know this by now but I was never interested in having a "trailer." A photo or a URL link to a site with photos would be helpful. I am glad to be retired and have more time to spend "chatting" with you guys on here. By the way, I worked 14 years for the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor in Easton. Offices are next to the Lehigh Canal, where the mule boat canal ride is located. There is no way the dams are coming down. I have said time and again that those ladders at Easton and Glendon would work a lot better if they were cleaned out prior to the start of the shad season. When the ladders first operated, the Easton ladder passed up tp 7,000 shad. They do work, and they are working now. Are they perfect? No, but like every other mechanical device on Earth, the ladders require annual or semi-annual maintenance. Of course there would be more shad in the Lehigh without dams, but that's not going to happen. The City of Easton and the D&L have a vested interest in keeping the Lehigh Canal watered for tourism. Taking down the Glendon dam would eliminate ater in 2.5 miles of canal from below the Glendon dam downstream. Eliminated the Easton dam would eliminate water in the Delaware Canal, and although it is waterless right now, a pretty powerful group of people in the Friends of the Delaware non-profit want the water back. They have connections in high places in PA. So, my recommendation is to get DRFSA volunteers and DCNR staff from Delaware Canal State Park to coordinate efforts and clean out the two ladders every February or early March. Just shut the water off and clean out the chambers, and then have DCNR clear out some of the debris and sediment that collects at the top of the ladder where the water enters and fish exit into the Lehigh. Everything with those ladders is based on making the flow at the bottom fast enough to attract the shad. The flow can't be at its fastest if the chambers aren't able to hold enough water because they're semi-clogged with muck. You'll never get those dams to come down.

Source Paflyfish http://www.paflyfish.com/forums/Open-Forums/Conservation/Lehigh-River-Dam-Study/6,17347.html

To Al Flannery re: "catfish". I have caught them from shore and from boat. When I do from shore, a metal sand spike is required and I if I can find a secure place to drive it in, downstream of where I am shad fishing, I will seek a spot where water is at least 8' deep and use a 2 ounce bank sinker to hold bottom. Catch a fresh shad for bait. Scale and cut good size bait strip. Make a loop with 8# mono and thread it through a 3 way swivel to use to hold the sinker. 30" of 20# leader and a 4/0 circle hook. 15 to 20" braid line. If the sinker gets stuck to bottom, the hope is the mono securing it to the 3 way swivel will break first. Set drag loose enough so that a big cat won't pull the sandspike out of ground and just tight enough to hook the fish. Circle hooks are great for this and usually avoid gut-hooking the fish for catch and release. Many a time I have caught a channel cat over 9# while shad fishing. Sometimes it takes a while for me to get out of the water and tend to the rod but it works. From boat - same principal. Morning trips I will often work a fresh strip of shad into the shad array of rods and have been rewarded with a big cat. Evening boat trips, will save a shad for bait, quit shad around 5PM and then go find the deepest holes in the area I am fishing and put multiple rods out for cats... Haven't gotten anything beyond the teens yet - goal is to get a 20# channel cat. My buddy got one over 30# several years back from his kayak.

Rob - my historical favorite spots N of Bushkill, have had tremendous success on small darts for 40 years. I can catch spoons with regularity in Lambertville the few times I have gone there and totally agree it keeps the lines in longer than flatlining darts with inline sinkers. I put a small split shot ahead of divers and when river is stained and has debris, it keeps you in the zone longer. But still way north where I prefer, I have yet to see spoons and divers outfish my dart methods from boat. From shore, I am seeing them as equal. I have a rod rigged for each - and of late see that they seem to catch equally. Last year, with more turbid stained water, many days the spoons did better than darts. In clear water over 50 degrees I love a 6 rod dart spread though. I am a creature of habit, hard for me to convert totally over to spoons but I now have a large collection of spoons and divers so it is fun to be an old dog learning new tricks. Seems I should be fishing my more northern spots and get away from the Gap area. Buddy of mine fished under Lambertville bridge with his kayak last two days and it sucked there too. (he is good diver/spoon fisherman there). Only difference was in kayak he could fish 2 rods instead of 3 from his boat. He got 3 Friday and 2 Saturday in several hours of fishing so not like there is a big run still sitting way down south to come up.

Wading & caught 5 above the gap Sat. missed a few. Couple of the row fought pretty good. Nothing real big again. Lots and lots of boat & foot traffic which is understandable everyone wants out of the house.

Shad Harris do you find the cats in the main current of the river or in deeper slower holes??? Last year I had a catfish rod out in a slower deep eddy (from shore) and didn’t get a tap. But at least the Shad were biting 25 yards up the river this time last year. Not so much this year...

Weather man says the heaviest rain will be Easton and north .65 inch and we'll see 30s at night again - Aaaaaahhh.

Hi. Fished from10:30 to 4:30 today at Riegelsville. Water temp 46 degrees. Hooked 11, got 8 in the net. Fishing was good between 2 and 4:15. Kept my limit for the smoker (can't wait). I had a small buck shad that was about 12 inches; never saw one that small, and yes, it was a shad. Also had some nice roe but as everyone is saying, they are smaller than in the "old days." The old days . . . ha ha. I'm sure many of you remember when the average roe was about 23". Heck, I once had a buck that was 23". Five-pound roes were "meh." Six-pounders were common and the tournament in Easton usually had a winner that was 7 pounds or more. That did go down over time but I'm just surprised that the roe I caught and kept today were 21-22" Oh, well. I'm not complaining; I had a heck of a good time on the river. By the way, 1/6 oz. darts and two #3 shot did the trick today.

Remove the dams and youll have more fish so you wont need a boat. Removing the dam at easton would greatly reduce or eliminate the flood risk , financial risk, enviromental risk and the liability of the city and the padep. Revitalizing the lehigh river would help revitalize the city as well. I included a pic of the lehigh and delaware confluence without the dam. More fish less flood risk less sounds pretty good to me and the padep and conservations groups wiling to pay for the lion share of removal.

Dennis, yes, that's the same cut-off point I use: 55 degrees. I like the better freedom of movement without them, but under 55 I find long johns a must. I also use the toe warmers stuck to my wool socks. Been looking for an inexpensive and short, warm, lightweight winter coat. Don't want to spend too much because I know the coat will eventually wind up with hooks in it. Can't be too tight because I need room underneath for other layers. Won't buy anything I can't try on, though.

Any way we can get the hotline back guys? Also, there are fan boats cruising the PA side across from Byram right now looking for something. Any idea what’s going on?

Leaky waders make for a rough day on the water. I went to breathable waders a few years back, you need longjohns when the water temps are south of 55 degrees. One nice thing is with the UV activated glues you can get now ( even the stuff used for head cement for flys works), you can make a stream side repair in about 5 minutes even when the waders are wet!( I carry a cheapo UV flashlight from amazon and a tube of Loon wader repair) In the case of finding a leak you don't have to tough it out and get soaked.

Lol. There are two types of waders. Waders that are currently leaking and waders that are going to leak. A few years ago I turned to neoprene pants, waterproof socks and even have neoprene booties for over the socks. All as undergarments but you need the wader and boot room to make it work. It makes life much more comfortable in the cold water fishing if you have any leaks.

landed 8 from shore tonight in conditions I would not normally fish - 46 air, 45 water... 2 hrs 45 minutes fishing with 4 on spoon, 4 on double dart rig both green chartreuse. 5 were roe weighing 4# to just under 6# . Might be the coldest water I ever caught shad and my new Caddis waders were leaking in the crotch so you can imagine how I was feeling...

Exelon is closing the following recreation sites until further notice: Fisherman’s Park Conowingo Visitor’s Center Wissler’s Run Muddy Run Visitor’s Center Dorsey Park Muddy Run Recreation Park

Support Dam Removal on the Lehigh River to reduce the risk and expense of flood damage to the city of easton and expand vital habitat to increase shad and migratory fish populations!! Join the DRSFA!!

Any Shad being caught At the Conowingo Dam?

Fished Thursday at Easton from shore just below Leigh river didn't have any hits, asked 3 other people who fished from shore and they didn't have any hits. Watch 3 boats and 3 more people fishing from shore for and didn't see any Shad caught. Any recommendations on a fishing charter for Shad around Easton?

Fished above the gap Wed. & Thur. from shore only managed 5, with only a few additional strikes. Didn't see many fisherman out, one guy bass fishing said he got a 19" smallie. Also the colder water temps seem to hamper their fight.

"(In the voice) Thank you for calling the Shad Hotline, brought to you in part by the Delaware River Shad Fisherman's Association." Any chance we can bring it back guys?