Fishing Log

Nice job, Lawrence! Hoping to get out soon and catch my first one.

John: I think your best bet would be to find someone who is familiar with shad fishing and you and your honey bun can go with that person and get jump-started that way. If you haven't fished shad before, it could be a tall order because kids get bored in a hurry. Make sure she understands the concept of the spinning reel drag mechanism and the anti-reverse lever. Look for somewhere where the current runs hard alongside the river bank and fish the opposite side of the river from it. I could go on and on, but good luck.

Here's what I can do from my phone: - Take 2 darts. I usually go with a 3/8 oz or larger and a 1/16th. - Tie on a leader to the larger dart of about 15" and tie a loop on its end. I use 6# mono. - To the eye of that dart tie a separate length of leader of 24" or so. - Tie the smaller dart to that. It's pretty simple. You can use different size darts, but I think having a larger dart in front gets me fewer tangles. I keep them wrapped around a piece of cardboard that fits easily in my pockets.

Not familiar with a double dart rig. Could someone link a picture or provide a description so I could make a few? Much appreciated.

RE: HERRING Yes I caught a Herring and an Anchovy (not kidding...an anchovy) in New Hope a few weeks ago. The majority of the shad I landed were very small bucks.

River is good to fish. Clarity is good!

"Anybody seeing herring?" Not yet but in may we start seeing them N of gap area. However - the extremely small size of some of the shad this season aren't much bigger than herring.

After working my ass off for my partner and me to get 33 from the boat all day yesterday way up north, I decide to fish closer to the gap today in waders. I fished 6:15 am to 6pm, landing 29 of 37 hookups. Very slow day because that is only about 3 hookups per hour! I would have lulls of 90 minutes or more than hammer fish 3 or 4 casts in a row only to go back to dull drums. This tells me the pods are scattered - not a strong run this year at all compared to previous year like 16, 17, and 18 (saw 18 as a slight decline trend with 17 being peak). Could not get a shad over like 4.4 lbs so far for tournment. Just one 5.5 or 6lb fish which once seemed so common - could be quite the payday! Can't believe the heavy rain this afternoon - thought we dodged a bullet but don't think so!

Is it worth Shad fishing tomorrow with this rain

Fished all over from shore today and had to work hard to get a few.nothing nice and the wading was dangerous be careful out there.will probably be unfishable tommorow?

While the page I referenced below gives some idea of what water to expect coming down the Delaware from NY as well as locally, it is no more reliable than the weather forecasts and needs to be monitored for changes.

ShadHarris—where do you see the predictions for future water levels??? I can see current and past streamflows etc on the usgs site but can’t find the forecasts??? Thanks in advance

Launched Eshaback and that was an adventure in of itself as the water was really too high to launch there and thank god for the locking rear on my new F-150! Fished south of launch at my favorite spots but was just a pick here and there moved around a lot. Late morning made executive decision to run way north 3 miles north of launch and found one of my old favorite high water shore spots. We did pretty well up there, would get somethign going with double headers but then many lulls . Left there around 3pm with about 23 netted, back to where I originally started 1.5 miles south of launch and picked up another 10 and ended at 33. Biggest weighed 4.2 lbs. A slow day but a nice day none the less. Should have went with plan be which was to launch closer to the gap or just fished from shore down there. Big goose egg for the bi-state for me and Todd... Gonna put my time in with the WADERS all day in the rain tomorrow. Saturday and Sunday look like a mess with the Gap gage going from 8 foot tomorrow morning to 11.5 by Saturday afternoon.... That's a lot of mud and debris and very high water!

fished the Bushkill area today. The water was high but very fishable. Stayed close to shore and picked up fish all day. Caught one with a lampray attached. Killed it. Was a good day on the Big D

27 vehicles at the boat launch, more than half with trailers! Some serious fishing going on. Just stopped by during break from work. Going to try this shad thing tomorrow afternoon by Zane Grey with a buddy that's an expert. Since I'm in Jersey, I think I need to buy a 3 day non resident PA to fish the Pennsy side between Pennsy and NY? I know between Pennsy and Jersey either license from either shore works, its in the digest.

The entire river is fishable. Clarity is about 2 feet. People have been catching THE SHAD everywhere in the river. Landed 3 and lost 3 yesterday between 545pm and 645pm from the bank. With a handful of bumps. Just have to get out there and give it a go. GOOD LUCK to everyone whether you are in the tournament or not. You need to have registration in by 8am this morning at the Pburg boat launch.

Will there be anyone at pburg ramp tonight to take applications....

I am out for the day fishing with my son near New Hope. Does anybody have recommendations for good public access for shore fishing on either PA or NJ side?

It's not legal to fish for shad on the pa. section of the Octoraro creek

Shad Hotline........River stage at Reigelsville 10.36 water temp 55......River is dropping about a ft per hour and has a heavy stain......Visibility about 1 ft.......So find the clearer running tributaries and fish close to shore.....colors red, black and blue.......be safe wear those pfds.......

Fished bulls island for 3 hours,no fish heavy debris and current. Headed north to Riegelsville fished for 3 hours there and only caught 1,debris was much lighter although the current was almost as bad.

The Conowingo Dam was at flood stage yesterday. But prior to that there are plenty of fish. The Octoraro is loaded.

Fished Zane Grey from shore 4/21 & 4/22 from 4 pm to 5:30 got nothing water coming out of the Lackawaxen is pretty clear and there is a mud line out in the river the water temp was around 50 and still pretty far up the boat ramp.

Did the river crest yet and does anyone know if they r drawing the resivoirs down? Hopefully we get some dry weather this year really has been bad.