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ShadHarris | | Sunday April 26th 12:38 pm
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.
Joseph C. | Phoenixville, PA | Sunday April 26th 12:09 pm
Yesterday I had an outstanding afternoon's fishing in the Schuylkill. I didn't get there until after 3:00 and the sun had had a chance to warm the river up just a tad. I brought my waders for the first time so I could have a little more back cast room at hightide. The river was moving quick enough to have me nervous and the rocks were slippery as hell, so I only walked just far enough to cast and planted myself on the first stable rock I found. I ended up standing there without moving for 2 hours and caught more than 15 fish. Most hit way at the end of my cast and used the current to fight hard. When I finally had to get myself back on dry ground I had muscle spasms running up my legs, hips and lower back. Leaky waders didn't help, but I was still very happy. I got out of the waders, wrung one sock out and put my shoes back on. I then fished a little while longer farther downstream and caught a few more fish. … All the fish were caught on a double dart rig, 3/8th ounce front and 1/16th trailing. The water has shallow spots in that area, so I only wanted enough weight to cast. I kept my one rig on until I lost it unhooking a big roe at the end of my stint when I was tired, cold and cramping and needed to get out and rest anyway. It was a great day's fishing, and I only had to drive 34 minutes (per Google Maps) to get home! Thanks WG for showing me how to fish that spot.
ShadHarris | | Sunday April 26th 11:00 am
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.
Phil M. | Sandyston | Sunday April 26th 10:50 am
FYI: Those previous posts from "Canada" are in fact written in Russian text.
Randy | | Sunday April 26th 10:32 am
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.
Rob Wright | Montague | Sunday April 26th 10:21 am
Shad Harris. I only fish spoons from a boat . No debris in water means you can keep spoons in the water longer. My technique has proven successful when most fisherman fail. I learned this secretive procedure through luck and trial and error. Fish finder located two extremely large schools swimming north. I predominantly fish dingmans but can't get it and have to settle at pj.
Al Flannery | Milford | Sunday April 26th 10:13 am
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...
ShadHarris | | Sunday April 26th 9:44 am
Nice Catches Rob W and Dennis S... Rob are you using spoons up that far north or darts? Were you anchored and another boat came up on you or were you fishing from shore? I went back to Poxono area from shore expecting to improve on the prior night's success. That was not to be - had to work extra hard just to get two very small bucks in 2.5 hours. The spot was pretty well covered by shore fisherman, seemed to be slow all up and down. I never saw so many boats on the river in my life. I also did not see a boat land a single fish - it was that poor in that stretch and river only came up a few inches and running clear with minimal debris. Seems everyone has a jet boat these days - it's the new "Jet ski" and none are honoring the speed limit for sure... Going to start focusing on my my more northern spots for more peace and quiet and hopefully better fishing as well. Hoping for some nice conditions and start burning vacation days and just take boat N of Bushkill and spend entire days on the river for shad and cats! Looks like those conditions are still a week away though.
Duff | | Sunday April 26th 9:36 am
Weather man says the heaviest rain will be Easton and north .65 inch and we'll see 30s at night again - Aaaaaahhh.
Phil M. | Sandyston | Sunday April 26th 12:56 am
(Waders) Fished below Tom's Creek on the PA side from 4:30 to 6:30pm on Sat. Only caught 4 (no real big ones) and lost 1 with a nice smallie thrown in. Park Ranger told me no vehicles were allowed that close to the river, and it has nothing to do with the Kung Flu. Oh, well. Water temp was 47 and tea-colored. Where the heck is the sun?
Dennis J Scholl | Riegelsville | Saturday April 25th 8:10 pm
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.
Rob Wright | Montague | Saturday April 25th 6:51 pm
Fished port jervis from 2-5. Water temp 45, river rising, not clear, no wind. Caught 22, lost 7. Not happy with the idiot who anchored ten yards from me. I didnt see him catch anything either
charlie | | Saturday April 25th 1:52 pm
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.
Duff | | Saturday April 25th 11:34 am
River rescue - Fan boats - are looking for a kayak guy that flipped yesterday. Hope it turns out OK but it's been 12 hrs or more I think.
Phil M. | Sandyston | Saturday April 25th 11:31 am
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.
| | Saturday April 25th 11:27 am
Remove the dams from the Lehigh and you will barely have enough water to run a motorized boat
She Got a Donkey | Byram, NJ | Saturday April 25th 10:57 am
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?
| | Saturday April 25th 10:39 am
Tish all this Lehigh talk is peaking my interest again. I would absolutely love for it to happen but I think you're right too many dams and too much money. Actually if I'm correct they divert water from the Lehigh at the Chain Dam to water the canal. So that also might be a conflict of interest. I came across a company called Whooshh a few years ago that uses a tubular fish transport system. Brilliant idea tho. https://youtu.be/WSmFXFEnAkc
Denis C | Branchville,NJ | Saturday April 25th 8:54 am
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.
Tish | | Saturday April 25th 6:56 am
2 dams would have to be removed for shad to move up the lehigh, the easton dam and the chain dam, not going to happen
| | Saturday April 25th 12:53 am
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.
Phil M. | Sandyston | Friday April 24th 11:46 pm
Shad Harris, I can think of better places to have a leak in my waders. Considering the time you put in and the water temp, I think you did well. Whenever dart color doesn't seem to matter, I always try my darts that are black up near the eyelet, with a dark green body and have white or yellow hair. Bass and walleye seem to grab that color combo more readily than the bright colors. Nice to mix-up the catch a little bit. Other's mileage may vary.
ShadHarris | between Gap and Bushkill | Friday April 24th 10:30 pm
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...
Bill McWha | South Kingstown RI | Friday April 24th 7:29 pm
The need to remove old industrial era obsolete dams is essential for the restoration of anadromous fish in our rivers. American Shad and River Herring have difficulty navigating thru man-made fish passage facilities, especially Shad. Opening the Lehigh River would expand Shad spawning habitat that we have stolen from them. People think dams are beautiful with their waterfall and they are historic, but historic is man’s history going back 300 years. However nature’s history goes back thousands of years. Which one do you think is better. Try watching this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VipVo8zPH0U&feature=share
kenneth E kerstetter | va | Friday April 24th 5:56 pm
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
Doug DeFanti | Center VAlley, Pa | Friday April 24th 5:53 pm
It would be great if shad and stripers could run up the Big Lehigh to complement the river's great trout and smallmouth fishing. I strongly support the removal of the dam at Easton. The fish ladder just doesn't work. Doug DeFanto
Charlie | | Friday April 24th 4:23 pm
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!!
Kurt G. Miller | Northampton | Friday April 24th 4:03 pm
Dennis, If there is a Walmart near you, they most likely have shadraps. Check out their fishing section (sporting goods) and look where the Rapalas are stocked. Probably priced as good as you can find them. Good luck, and tight lines!
Collin F. | | Friday April 24th 3:46 pm
Any Shad being caught At the Conowingo Dam?
Dennis J Scholl | Hellertown | Friday April 24th 3:06 pm
Hey, thanks to you guys who gave me crankbait tips. I'll pick some up . . . but right now, where? The Cabela's link was useful. The per crankbait price is high; I better not lose them. And I used to know how to catch these things. i believe all of us will have better luck (Tony, I believe you are already exempt) when things warm up. This is what happens when you don't get out on the river for two years. A little rusty.
Ed Nussbeutel | Reading | Friday April 24th 1:24 pm
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?
Joseph C. | Phoenixvlle / Princeton | Friday April 24th 1:11 pm
I fished the Schuylkill yesterday PM and was there just in time for the very top of the tide. I had my own personal worst day in a while, hooking only 1 fish. That wouldn't have been so bad but there were these rough looking guys upstream from me landing one after another - it drove me crazy! I guess they must have known what they were doing....and they had chest waders on so they could cast to some sweet spot.
| | Friday April 24th 12:40 pm
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.
Kurt G. Miller | Northampton | Friday April 24th 11:09 am
Dennis, that was me who wrote about the shadrap thing. I hope you do well with it. It has saved the day a few times and outproduced downriggers. Also, I like the idea of using J-plugs. I'm sure that would give spoons/darts a much different look. Thanks for the tip. I'll be using it next time out. Tight lines guys!
She Got a Donkey | Byram, NJ | Friday April 24th 9:56 am
"(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?
JohnnyK | Bucks | Friday April 24th 8:56 am
What weight darts/micro-darts Are people using effectively?
Shadfather | Easton | Friday April 24th 8:28 am
Finally got out yesterday afternoon and after moving a couple of times I finally got on them between 4 and 6:00 and caught ten. Eight were on my wonder bread spoons and two were on candy corn. The wonder bread spoons were behind a crank bait and a J plug. Candy corn was on the DRigger. Gave Rusty a couple of the WB spoons and he was hitting them pretty good too.
Kyle | Pen Argyl | Friday April 24th 6:14 am
FishedThursday 1230-430 in harmony area with my son, water temp 47 degrees and clear, We landed 16, lost 12, all caught on downriggers with spoons & microdarts. Mix of roe& buck,1 nice roe that would of made trip to weigh station if contest was not stopped.
ShadHarris | | Thursday April 23rd 10:00 pm
Dennis S - I like these Brad's divers from Cabelas... You can adjust the pitch on them but they dive real deep real fast. No hooks - designed for lake trolling trout/salmon but can work well for shad with 30" leader and spoons behind them. I still like darts for when water is 50 and above and running clearer but it's good to be ready for anything. https://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1617145&type=product&WT.z_btnclk=YMAL-1617145&WT.z_pg_ref=prd1611719
Dennis J Scholl | Hellertown | Thursday April 23rd 9:41 pm
Thanks for the info. I didn't see your name, but i appreciate the information. I am an old-school shad fisherman but when three guys get five hookups in an hour in front of me . . . well, looks like I have to try that.
| | Thursday April 23rd 9:03 pm
Dennis l use shadraps in different sizes depending how deep you want to fish. Just take off the hooks. I use a ballbearing snap swivel to connect the leader to the rear of the crankbait to keep it the leader from twisting. and tie the spoon to the leader. I use a plain snap to connect to the shadrap to my main line. My buddy keeps the front hook on, and has caught stripers on the crankbait as a bonus. I do that too, but have not hooked up with any stripers. But, I have lucked out and caught a few stripers on the spoon.
Riverwolf | Coopersburg | Thursday April 23rd 8:22 pm
SHAD HOTLINE......River stage at Reigelsville 6.5.....Water temp 47.....Again need the water temp to get up in the 50s...Spotty catches today....1.5 inches of rain forcast for tonight and tomorrow.....River to rise 1.5 ft....
Dennis J Scholl | Hellertown | Thursday April 23rd 7:35 pm
I'm back. I went to the Netcraft website and they have crankbait bodies. Next question is what kind do I get. shallow or deep diver? And I assume you tie your line to the rear eye on the crankbait and the leader line to the underbelly eye. But . . . what else becomes part of this rig? A barrel swivel? Is there need to add split shot to the rig? Never used them so I have a lot of questions. Thanks.
Dennis J Scholl | Hellertown | Thursday April 23rd 7:23 pm
So I went to Riegelsville this afternoon for two hours.I fished below the little spit of an island upsteam from the Riegelsville bridge. I didn't get any but that's OK. There were three guys in a boat below me, one of them had a really long red beard. They caught five fish from about 3:15 to 4:15. I kept saying to myself "I'm next" after they caught each fish. But I wasn't next. I was right in line with them and I know my darts were down deep enough. I don't fish with a downrigger. I play the split shot game. Anyway, each of these three guys had this light-colored object on their line about 3-4 feet above the lure. I didn't know what they were. So when I pulled anchor to go home, I drifted by them and asked them what those things were. Crankbaits! Of course, doh! They get things down. So I'd like to try them but I don't know where to get them. Anyone selling them on this site? Thanks!
Tony | Riegelsville | Thursday April 23rd 3:27 pm
I fished a little under 10 hours yesterday from launching to putting boat back on trailer
Tony | Riegelsville | Thursday April 23rd 3:24 pm
They aren’t many here today,only landed 11 so far. I would think they are doing pretty well up by Easton today.
ShadHarris | | Thursday April 23rd 2:55 pm
Awesome day you had Tony, thanks for the inspiring report. Water is still showing to barely be hitting 45 from Gap northward all this week, just not motivated to get out there unless I head way south this weekend. I always consider from my boat if I can be netting or near-netting 15 shad an hour it's pretty outstanding shad fishing and have seen periods of 20 shad an hour with 3 anglers in boat but that hard to keep up that pace. If you quit 6:30 PM what time did you start? If you started 12:30 that's 79 landed in 6 hours, or about 13 shad per hour. If you started 3pm, thats 22 shad per hour at 3.5 hours which is just absolutely as insane as it gets. If you started 6:30 AM - in a 12 hour sesson then you did 6.5 shad per hour which is decent and a nice relaxing pace but not all that wild and crazy. How many hours did you fish?
Dennis J Scholl | Hellertown | Thursday April 23rd 12:50 pm
to Tony . . . 79 shad @ 3-5 minutes per shad = basically 4-6 hours of fish catching, not just fishing. I never heard of anything like that.
Rusty balls | | Thursday April 23rd 8:04 am
Donkey Didn’t matter on color only one on the Downrigger others all on flatlines No tan yesterday
Joseph C. | Phoenixvlle / Princeton | Thursday April 23rd 7:20 am
...oh, and I caught my first mallard of my fishing career yesterday. She flew in toward me like a kamikaze and veered off at the very last moment, succeeding in catching herself in my line and wrapping it around her neck as she tried to escape. My lead dart caught in her feathers and the trailer tangled her feet. (I never realized that ducks have tiny little toe nails.) It was a mess, but not nearly as bad as a seagull - they bite! She flew away safe and sound.

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