SHAD REPORT - 3/16/04
A seafood buyer stated that American shad were again available from S. Carolina, but now they are all roes. The shad that he purchased from the same source in previous weeks were both bucks and roes.
Like last year, all of the ice with its associated debris has kept the commercial gill netters out of Delaware Bay. Nets set in those conditions become fouled, or even torn apart, by the debris. Buck shad have, and are, migrating through the bay unimpeded by nets. They have moved upriver at least as far as Trenton, as evidenced by reports that small buck American shad of approximately 2 lbs. were caught in the warm water discharge at the Mercer Generating Station there on 3/14 and 3/15. Buck shad are probably migrating further upstream, but as the main river water temperature is 41° F. these fish will not be hitting. The water temperature has to be at least 50° F. to prompt a strike.
The hydroacoustics contractor set up the monitoring equipment last week at the Route 202 Bridge. It was up and running on 3/12 and will continue through May to determine the 2004 American shad population estimate. This will include weekly updates of American shad passage at the site.
Steve Meserve of the Lewis Fishery plans to conduct his first haul seine on 3/20, weather permitting.
Good catches of walleyes have been reported from the upper Delaware River.
PRE-SEASON REPORT - Delaware Bay - 3/10/04
The NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheries has caught, tagged and released 300 striped bass in 3 days in nets set off of Bidwell’s Ditch and Reed’s Beach in Delaware Bay. The largest striped bass was 18 lbs. The first American shad, a small female, was caught. Water temperature reached a high of 48° F.
A Seafood buyer stated that American shad was again available from South Carolina. He was able to purchase 345 lbs. He continues to think that the A. shad run will be late, like last year.
The Hydroacoustics contractor plans to begin setting up the equipment tomorrow at the Route 202 Bridge for the mid-March through May American shad population estimate. This will include weekly updates of American shad passage at the site.
Steve Meserve of the Lewis Fishery plans to conduct his first haul seine on 3/20/04.
PRE-SEASON REPORT - Delaware Bay – 3/5/04
The NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheries set nets off of Bidwell’s Ditch and Reed’s Beach in Delaware Bay catching tagging and releasing 175 striped bass 18"–30”, the largest of which was 18 lbs. Windowpane Flounder were also caught, but no American shad. Water temperature was 41–46° F. A single American shad was reportedly caught by a commercial white perch netter in Upper Delaware Bay. The bureau plans to do more extensive netting for striped bass in Delaware Bay early next week.
Seafood buyer stated that there were no American shad available for him to purchase but lots of big white perch, due to these past two winters that had much of the water ice covered.
PSE&G said Trenton Power Plant Gate is open, and will remain open. If the security alert is raised it will be closed.
PRE-SEASON REPORT - 3/5/04
It is usually at this time of year that reports are made by Delaware River American shad anglers taking advantage of the warm water effluent at the Mercer Generating Station in Trenton. Later, there are reports from other NJ rivers of “shad” jumping dams. They are shad, usually Gizzard shad. for more information see the Comparison of Gizzard/American Shad. (75kb in PDF format which requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from Adobe's Web site)
PRE-SEASON REPORT - 2/27/04
A Delaware Bay contact said that South Carolina commercial netting began on 2/1, and no shad were caught until this week, 2/23. He was able to buy 300 lbs, slightly less than he bought from them last year at this time and feels that the run will be late, like last year.
In 2003 there were no shad landed by commercial netters in upper Delaware Bay prior to March 16th due to the cold water temperatures. The bucks may have stayed deep (because of cold water) below the nets. The big landings didn't start until the end of March through mid-April and they were mostly roes as everyone fished 5.5" mesh (too big for bucks).
2004 is similar to last year with all the snow and ice melt, keeping the water below 50 F. Shad will be migrating at these cold temperatures, but will not be hitting. Remember, anglers that trolled (giving the lure more action, covering more water) seemed to do better in cold water last year than boat anglers whom remained stationary. One stationary boat angler that uses down riggers, claims that the few shad he does catch, below 50 F, are hooked on the outside of the mouth. The shad are just slapping at the lure, not hitting it aggressively. It is no news, that, if the river remains fishable but cold, the first shad will be caught in the warm water near the Trenton Power Plant and later, upriver at the Portland Power Plant.
No shad in Delaware Bay yet, but, the Division’s Bureau of Marine Fisheries plans to make sure, sampling there later next week.
More information can be found in Mark's article on The American Shad Spawning Run. Boat access information is also available.
2003 Reports
2002 Reports
2001 Reports