Fishing Log

Any thoughts on this subject Rich F..

Caught one wading Smithfield this evening. 1 or 2 bumps besides. Some surface activity but not much. Tried a rapids section with no luck. Nobody else fishing.

Shad harris. I noticed two shad swimming on the surface with their head out of the water also. I thought it strange. Fished north of dingmans 330 to 630. Boated 22 lost 6. Water temp 61, river high, windy, water clarity ok but not clear.

My 7th and last trip to Riegelsville today. I was the only boat on the river. Parking lot had no other boat trailers. Three guys were fishing from shore. Water temp. was 64. I caught three roe from 7:15 to noon, the last one coming at 11:30. Two of the roe had green egg sacs, the third had developing eggs. That's it.

Ok been getting feedback from other anglers fishing gap and way north where they were seeing an abnormal shad behavior and abnormal dead floating shad sightings. I probably expressed concerns about excessive "man handling" of the fish which is always an issue regardless but probably no more or less than it ever is. Shad swallow darts and spoons to the gills (spoons more than darts), they won't survive. If someone catches and release 60 shad, there will be some casualties for sure. Again - nothing new. What I really observed other than floaters, was shad acting like they had "whirling disease" swimming in wide circles with their heads out of water, looking like they were being fought by another angler but they were free swimming. Let's remove spawning activity as the cause this was middle of day and water temps just recently hit near-spawn temps and I can verify seeing enough recent egg sacks that were not even close to spawn. So what are the possibilities? 1) Simply part of "kill and release"? 2) Water temp spike "too fast" as it went from 40's to 60s in a matter of a few days, instead of a normal 2-3 week period of it staying in the 50's? 3 )Do we have a disease situation at hand here? I see there is something called VHS that impacts gizzard shad. Oregon has had parasitic issues in the past - "bacterial infection has been the cause of large losses of adult, spawning, American shad (Alosa sapidissima) " 4) Even though this is the least shad I have ever caught in terms of success versus effort hours, I have seen the most lampreys attached to the shad in my 46 years of catching them. At some point they will most likely kill the shad and probably make them behave rather squirelly as they near end of life. What say you? Would like to hear from some experts on this...

I typically shore fish from the Worthington parking lot. Now that I have a boat I am able to take my daughter out and we fished North of Dingmans Friday night and only went 3 for 3. We were off the southern of the first island upstream from the bridge. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, as I see others hitting it big. Thank you in advanced!

Is it only me or are roe taking lures deeper this year. Have not seen damaged or floating fish but have noticed almost all roe I caught this year have taken lures very deep. Lost one and three have needed a lot of care to swim off. Fished two saturdays in gap one in easton no fish there. 10 fish caught half roe half bucks. Bucks were all in outer mouth roe took lures deep. All caught on flutter spoons. Was fishing fluke style to get bites.

Boat fished 6;30 to 5:30 started just N of Bushkill - only 25 netted, probably 10 hookups lost. Day started with first 3 rods in water all hooked up at once. That action died as quickly as it started. Covered a lot of water, over 5 miles ending up just about 1.5 miles S of Dingmans bridge. Fished every pinch point, hole, etc. Seemed we always picked up a few out of each stop, but never could get a solid bite going. Best markings were in deep 15' water yet again, smack middle of river. I don't have downriggers - honestly would rather fish from waders which I enjoy more before I go that route! Historically I have always had my best action in 5-8 feet of water but not the last two seasons. Water got stained overnight and went up a foot, moderate debris. Conditions seemed ripe for a wild bite though and Rob W you are the only one I heard of today that found it! Good job.

Joseph C. - thanks, it was a bummer. As far as wading is concerned, one of the better spots when the water is up is on the Jersey side right at the boat launch. Right now, it may be a little low and the fish might be out more, but keep that place in mind for mid-April fishing. I've caught a fair number there over the years and so have lots of other people. You pull in the boat launch parking lot and the spot is literally down the bank from the parking lot. I know there were some caught there last week.

Just checked Montague's temp chart they did a 10 degree increase in less than 48 hours.

The Big girls are here Shad starting to act spawn ready and water temp is where it usually is this time of year. One 80 degree day might push it past 70. Darn

There are 4 places You can wade at Riegelsville. Below the the creek at Fry run, above the creek at Fry run, the bottom point of the island or the top point of the island. If you can cross onto the island at the top then on the New Jersey side if the island there is a spot about midway down the island. good luck.

To WG: Good stuff. I concur 100 percent. I would love to be fishing up north right now but because it's an investment of 3-4 hours of back-and-forth driving, I chose to fish Riegelsville exclusively this year. It's a 15-minute drive from my house. The week that the water was high because of the 2-3 inches of rain probably was the week that a lot of fish moved upriver without anyone being able to get to them. I have been out 6 times and my catch rate pales in comparison to Rob Wright and ShadHarris, but I'm very happy with what I've been getting. I had an unfortunate experience yesterday that is still bothering me. I packed up and headed for the boat launch at Riegelsville and when I got there the launch was clogged with boats and ski-doos waiting to put into the water and pull out. So I anchored in about 6 feet of water to wait my turn. I had three fish on a stringer that were headed for my smoker, and in putting the fish into the water to keep them cool as I waited, the stringer slipped through my hand and my day's catch sank to the bottom. I just couldn't believe that happened. And I felt so bad. I worked to get them but beyond that, their destiny was now to become food for catfish. I could see them because they reflected the sun so well. So i got my very long handled shad net, got down on my knees and extended the net to the bottom. I could touch the fish but just couldn't get the rim of the net underneath. I could not get the fish. People at the dock must have enjoyed my colorful language over the next 75 minutes. I had nothing like a grappling hook, so I just kept trying. I could have gone in the river and dove underneath but as time went on the water became discolored from the boat activity and I just gave up. I haven't felt that disheartened in a long time. So that's my sad story. I will say one other sort of unrelated thing. When I started fishing for these things in a boat in the mid 1960's (I was a teenager) people in other boats were respectful in terms of how fast they would go as the drove by you. No fun sometimes to be rocked around like a bobber. Now, the person who slows down in the exception to the norm. And the ski-doos? They don't give a hoot; they're just out there to have fun.

I just want to point out the obvious.... water temps during the entire spring were wayyyy below normal making the shad bite very tough at times with constantly dropping temps. Now in 2-3 days the Delaware River in most locations is low to mid 60s... that will send the shad into “spawn mode”. They will migrate very little now, and conserve energy for the spawn. It’s May 17th and that’s what is USUALLY happening at this point in the run anyway. The days of “big numbers” are more likely to happen when the shad are in the migratory phase NOT spawning phase! The “big numbers” snuck by most anglers as uninterested in striking shad pushed upriver in bad conditions for them to strike! The upper Delaware is loaded! AND there are still some shad migrating in the tidal section.....some years at this time the shad are spawning and weak, however the colder water has delayed that. Enjoy the run for what it is.... the peak of the run occurred (as it always does regardless of what anglers are catching) during April... mid May is for spawning shad and early morning and evenings are best now when the shad get more active. Boat fishing will be more productive as the river is lowering daily and clear. Good luck everyone

@ShadHarris.... sorry to see the shape of the shad you are describing. I have been out almost everyday for weeks and have not seen the same. I doubt that "manhandling" is not the only explanation though. Are you a fisheries biologist? if so I defer to your expertise. I think that most dedicated shad fisherman.. at least the many that I know.. do their best to release fish unharmed ...

Two of my kids and I fished hard from shore / wading this afternoon on the Delaware. We tried Frieman's Eddy for about 2.5 hours and then tried casting from a small floating pier at Washington's Crossing on the PA side for another 1/2 hour. Not a single strike about 9 person-hours of fishing. Water was 64 degrees and looked pretty clear. This is frustrating. I'm following all of the advice people are giving us. I'd like to catch at least one shad in my life!

Fished north of dingmans from 330 to 700p.m.. landed 32 lost4. River temp 63, clarity good, no wind in evening

Landed five this morning at Riegelsville. Lots of pleasure boat action. Nice fish, pretty fresh. Water temp 62 at 10 a.m.

@Shad Racker It was clear near Port Jervis today. The slight rise in the river is still coming.

Fishing out of Martin's Creek with my 14 year old daughter this afternoon and evening. She caught her first shad tonight. So far 5 for 7. Mostly buck. Nothing on down riggers, only the flat lines. But we are having fun!

2 hours on the Schuylkill this morning to get the taste of my humiliation up in Easton yesterday out of my mouth. 20 or so fish, a mixed bag of American, Hickory and River Herring. All but 1 fish on the 1/16th oz trailer dart. No American roes.....the season isn't done on the Schuylkill, but I can smell it from here.

I live 30 minutes from the Delaware and wish I could look out my window to see what the river looks like before I drive down there. Last night’s rain storms has me concerned the river is unfishable, turbid with debris. I found this (Live Cam),... http://www.lambertvilleriveredge.com/#vid Any comments on viewing the Day to Day water color as an indication of good fishing ? Can shad be caught in muddy water as well as clear water ?

I’ve been fishing Easton everyday for the last 3 weeks. The last good day was last Saturday for me. The first 2 weeks had the most fish and if it wasn’t for the cold water temps I would have done better but I honestly think most of the main run is up north from the water gap up so if you want to get into some good numbers take a ride up north! Every year is different and this year the cold water killed the bite most of April! I went trout fishing today in the Lehigh at treichlers bridge from 4 till 6 and caught 4 rainbows and one was over 20 inches! All on smelt gulp minnows! I might take a ride up to the gap tomorrow to try to get some shad! They are fun to catch and hopefully I won’t have to go further up to get good numbers! The people up north should do well for the next few weeks! So pack a lunch and take a ride!

RCusty pretty sure it’s vanish ? Label is worn off. Bare end of spool. About done with it. I would not expect many 8# lines can have opposing 4-5# fish that are hard fighters individually pulling against each other in current not break? Landed a pair of bucks last weekend but they were not sting enough to break same rig.