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Shad 101

51K views 174 replies 42 participants last post by  Feetup1 
#1 ·
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...:)
 
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#12 ·
Shad need a good water flow to come up into the rivers and creeks, so we need some rain. Usually when the rains come in the spring, they let water out of Falls Lake and that enhances the water flow and the fish runs...:) Keep an eye on most fishing forums and they will keep you up to date on the shad runs on the local rivers. They have been catching some shad in the Goldsboro area for at least 2 weeks now, so I wouldn't be suprised that some weren't as far up as Smithfield area.

When the river is low like it is now you need to check out the major creek mouths, channel bends and any other places that may have deeper water. Fish will move across the shallow bars in the rivers and then seek deeper waters to rest and get out of harms way. Fish around anything that will create current breaks like logs, stumps, bridge pillings or just eddies along the river banks.


When the rivers are high shad will make a run thru the flooded swamps and get out of the major current flows of the river. Where you have sharp channel bends, making like 'horse shoe" bends, the fish will cut across the swamp and skip whole sections of the river. Not all the schools will take these detours but you need to check em out just in case.

In the below picture you will see the red line indicating the cuts the shad may take when the water is high and with a good flow rate.
 
#17 ·
Depending on the area you are fishing you may want to check the fishing regs for your area.. www.ncwildlife.org
Fishing along the Neuse the limit is 10 fish in combination, meaning a mix of hickory and American shad, and no size limit. The regs change some for the Roanoke River.

As the shad progress up the rivers the STRIPERS won't be to far behind, also in there spawning run. A times I'll catch a shad, cut a big steak off it, put it on a bottom rig and catch big cats and or Stripers...:) I continue to fish for shad and just keep an eye on the other heavier rod for that tell tell screaming drag. I use big "circle hooks" and let them do there job. Most of the time the fish will be hooked right in the corner of the mouth.

Another thing you can do is, when moving about, is troll. You can troll for shad and or stripers. Just be sure what type of water you will be covering and types of lures that will work in that area. Big Cotton Cordell Redfins, Rebels and such that don't dive deep usually do pretty good for stripers. The stand shad rig trolled slowly will catch shad, bass and anything in the river that chases minnows.

<*)))))>{​

Tom, I'm off on Mon, Tue and Thursday, when you get ready give me a shout. Somewhere the fish should be biting and we'll go chase something. The other days you know where I'll be, playing in the fishing tackle mecca.

Thanks Darrell..:)

<*))))>{
 
#20 ·
Just want to make sure I understand the regs, is it correct that on the the Neuse River you can possess 10 American and Hickory shad in combination.

And on the Roanoke River, you can possess 10 shad but no more than one can be an American shad?
 
#21 ·
That is correct on the Neuse.

REG>>>Roanoke River upstream of US 258 bridge near Scotland Neck to Roanoke Rapids Dam...10 fish in combination with only 1 American shad.

With that being written like that it would seem that below Scotland Neck bridge on 561/258 to the sound past Plymouth that a 10 fish in combination would be right, just like the Neuse or any other river. There is nothing there to say below the bridge, just above it.
 
#22 ·
Here are some pics of Shad Spoons I customized..:)

First I removed the hooks from the spoon. I had to take an drill a bigger hole to get the hook back into the spoon with the feathers/flashabou tied on.


After removing all the hooks I laid the spoons to the side and then decided what colors to add to each spoon. Then I tied up the feather/flashabou. Added a little Super Glue to help hold it together and let them dry.



Then it was time to put em back together. I pushed them thru the new hole and pulled em up and put the screw back in.


This is the final new product. Now I can't wait to test em out on the water. At times the fish want different color combinations so I plan to fill that void..:)



Lots of shad both Hickory and American (white) shad still tearing it up around Goldsboro area. Get out there and catch you some.

<*))))>{
 
#29 ·
Most put the jig/dart about 12 inches above the spoon. Thats the way the store bought tandem rigs are sold. I;ve seen all sorts of ways to tie them up. A 3-way swivel will work or just about any way you can think of. I normally use 8 or 10 pound test line. I have 8 pound Fireline on one rod and 6 pound Fireline on another...:) Casts a country mile, thin and easy on small 1000 size reels.

I have even tied on the jig with a double granny knot leaving a long tag end enough to tie on a spoon. As long as you have 2 tail ends to tie to the possiblities are endless. You could also tie a "dropper loop" for the jig/dart.
 
#30 ·
10-4 on that scott...i rarely use spoons but most people i see using them run them on the bottom.......Mack
And i tie mine by sliding 1 jig up the line then doubling the line and tying 2 granny knots like you say which leaves a little dropper loop...then to the end i tie my las jig.......
 
#32 ·
We have had a lot of recent rain and the rivers/creeks are full and overflowing. The water is muddy and fishing high muddy water does present problems, however the shad are wanting to move on up river to pro-create and they want high water. I find that gold, hot pink, chartruese colored spoons fill the ticket. Darts also fall in to the bright dark color spectrum, pink/pink, chartruese, hot oranges, green/chart. all work for muddy water fishing.

You may have to try several colors to see what the fish prefer for a given time frame during the day and the colors may change. If two people are fishing together they should use different colors and try to figure out what the fish are hitting. They should also keep in tune with what there bait is doing, what depth the lure is running (deep or shallow), fast or slow retrieve. Repeat the process when you catch a fish that tells you how to catch more. I've had my best days when the water was out of the banks and the shad were running the very edges of the swamp backwaters to keep out of the main river currents.

Look for feeder creeks running into the main river where the waters may not be so muddy. You can at times find these zones and fish the mud line and catch lots of fish. Look for transition zones from where current breaks and allows eddies to form giving the fish slack water to rest and stage. Areas that had eddies and calm water during low water may not be that way when the water rises.

Muddy waters are tough to fish but they can also be some great days on the water with some trial and error. If on a boat just be careful because high water can dis-lodge debris from the banks, logs, tree tops and such and it floats down river.
 
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