Shad Passage In Ma declining

[s2ary]

It claims the numbers are way down since the late 90's. :cry:

http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1195462203199300.xml&coll=1

[BugChucka]

I landed more shad than ever during June/July/August in NH. Thought it was odd.

[lowwall]

I caught a load of shad to, a bunch even in Boston Harbor within schools of huge blues? Hampton harbor was crazy with shad.

Seems like the only time I never catch shad is when I am shad fishing, weird.

Maybe the shad have moved to Southern NH like the rest of us , MAholes

[s2ary]

Ya, me too. Last year caleb and I caught a few in the Piscatiqua and I thought they were big alewives or hickory shad. This year I picked up shad here and there all over the NH coast. It's weird, in the past I've only picked a few a year off the sand bar at PI, but that was it.


I'm pretty sure the article was on the Conn. River population. I'd guess the fish we have been seeing around here are from the Merrimac or southern Maine.

[Casey A. Wood]

For those of you that shad fish Turners Falls, you must have a secret way of catching them. I fish out by the rock dam, can see them come in, but I am not so lucky. Not that I was disappointed, this year I used my fly rod. A guy there also fishing for shad thought I was nuts to use a 6 wt rod. He thought I should be in an 8 wt set-up. Yeah, right, whatever!

[s2ary]

Hey Casey,

I think I've heard of the place your talking about, but I have never fished it. A few years ago the fisheries biologist for GBNERRS was going to track you guys down to try to get some info on population numbers.

The one we caught was by accident while striper fishing.

If you don't mind a tag along next spring I'd be up for trying it out.

[Steve H.]

I also got a bunch of shad this year in the Hampton river. But I'm not sure they were the same kind of shad I used to catch in the Merrimack up by the dam in Lawrence. It was a long time ago, back in the mid '80s, but those fish were quite big - about 4-6 lbs on average.

The shad that I caught in Hampton this year were much smaller, about 12-14" or so. I'm wondering if these are hickory shad? Or maybe they were juvenile American shad? They definitely weren't alewives or blueback herring, which I've also caught before in the Merrimack and elsewhere.

I think I've caught hickory shad off the beach at Plum Island but this was later in the summer. But the big ones I caught years ago were American shad and get to 10 lbs or more.

[BugChucka]

Steve, my guess is that they were adult bunker if they were 12-14 inches. The Shad I was catching were much larger. I saw a bunch of bunker this year early on in the marsh with Nate...surprised both of us!

[Steve H.]

Bug, I considered that but I don't think they were bunker (menhaden, pogies). I got into some big schools of bunker this year and snagged a few for bait. These are definitely different fish.

Check out this thread from earlier this year for some pretty clear pictures courtesy of Solid, Natefish and Lowwall:

http://www.flyfishinginnh.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1986