Its that time of year that the shad come out of the ocean and into our rivers and creeks for there spawing runs. They hit up the larger rivers, Cape Fear, Neuse and Roanoke and all the creeks and places in between. The typical catch in our area are of Hickory and American, also called white shad. Lots of people call these "poor mans tarpon" because of the acrobatics and great fight these fish give.
NOTE.... FOR THE 2013 SEASON you can only have 1 American Shad in the creel. The limit of shad is 10 with only 1 American shad. www.ncwildlife.org
Shad ID chart. The ones that favor our local waters and bite on spoons/darts are the Hickory and American shad.
http://fishandboat.com/pafish/shad/poster_id_shad-herring.pdf
These fish run in schools up the rivers and are taken by fishermen casting shiny darts/grubs and spoon combinations. These could be darts designed for shad or either assorted crappie jigs in a vast array of colors.
Normal tackle would consist of light spinning gear with anywhere from 4-10 pound test line. At times you can cast and start winding when the lures hit the water, other times you have to let the lures sink some and catch the fish deeper. Best to alternate styles of casting and retreiving and then let the fish tell you how they want it for the day. Normally early mornings and late afternoons or cloudy days, the fish run closer to the top of the water column. When the sun gets bright at mid-day they run a little deeper.
This is a normal setup...in this case a grub above a spoon about 12-18 inches.
Assorted spoons for shad...they come in silver, gold, with and with out feathers, red, pink/white, green/white, orange/white and other colors. There are assorted sizes and styles on the market.
Typical crappie grubs that work great also for shad...
This is a crappie jig and a shad dart.
This is a pack of grubs all with a jig head bought a Wally world for about 3 bucks.
The fly fisherman can easily cash in on the fly fishing scene. Using 4-5 or 6 weight outfits they chase there quary from banks or boats. You can use a floating line or an intermediate line for casting. I normally use a floating but keep a sinking line with me just in case the fish are a little deeper in the water column.
Here are some flies and set ups ...
Check out these links to Hickory and American Shad...
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Fishing/documents/Hickory_Shad_profile.pdf
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Fishing/documents/American_Shad_profile.pdf
Eating shad...
Shad are boney fish so be prepared to gnaw on some bones to get to the meat. Most take and dress the fish, put some deep gashes on each side so the fish can cook quickly and make the bones brittle. The best part is the roe or fish eggs. They make for a great shore lunch fried up and put in a piece of bread.
American shad are better to eat than the hickory but everyone has there own preferences.
Cut shad bait is great for catfish and stripers...
NOTE.... FOR THE 2013 SEASON you can only have 1 American Shad in the creel. The limit of shad is 10 with only 1 American shad. www.ncwildlife.org
Shad ID chart. The ones that favor our local waters and bite on spoons/darts are the Hickory and American shad.
http://fishandboat.com/pafish/shad/poster_id_shad-herring.pdf
These fish run in schools up the rivers and are taken by fishermen casting shiny darts/grubs and spoon combinations. These could be darts designed for shad or either assorted crappie jigs in a vast array of colors.
Normal tackle would consist of light spinning gear with anywhere from 4-10 pound test line. At times you can cast and start winding when the lures hit the water, other times you have to let the lures sink some and catch the fish deeper. Best to alternate styles of casting and retreiving and then let the fish tell you how they want it for the day. Normally early mornings and late afternoons or cloudy days, the fish run closer to the top of the water column. When the sun gets bright at mid-day they run a little deeper.
This is a normal setup...in this case a grub above a spoon about 12-18 inches.
Assorted spoons for shad...they come in silver, gold, with and with out feathers, red, pink/white, green/white, orange/white and other colors. There are assorted sizes and styles on the market.
Typical crappie grubs that work great also for shad...
This is a crappie jig and a shad dart.
This is a pack of grubs all with a jig head bought a Wally world for about 3 bucks.
The fly fisherman can easily cash in on the fly fishing scene. Using 4-5 or 6 weight outfits they chase there quary from banks or boats. You can use a floating line or an intermediate line for casting. I normally use a floating but keep a sinking line with me just in case the fish are a little deeper in the water column.
Here are some flies and set ups ...
Check out these links to Hickory and American Shad...
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Fishing/documents/Hickory_Shad_profile.pdf
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Fishing/documents/American_Shad_profile.pdf
Eating shad...
Shad are boney fish so be prepared to gnaw on some bones to get to the meat. Most take and dress the fish, put some deep gashes on each side so the fish can cook quickly and make the bones brittle. The best part is the roe or fish eggs. They make for a great shore lunch fried up and put in a piece of bread.
American shad are better to eat than the hickory but everyone has there own preferences.
Cut shad bait is great for catfish and stripers...