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Report from the Delaware River - 2004


Unless otherwise noted, the information below is from Gary Conner, the voice of the Shad Hotline. It is provided solely for its informational value. The Division cannot vouch for its accuracy, though we have no reason to doubt it. Please call the Shad Hotline 610-954-0577 or 610-954-0578 for the latest shad updates on the Delaware River.

4/2 Report
3/31 Report
3/29 & 3/30 Reports
3/27 Report
3/16 Report
3/13 Report
3/11 Report
3/10 Pre-season Report - Delaware Bay
3/5 Pre-season Report - Delaware Bay
3/5 Pre-season Report
2/27 Pre-season Report

4/2 - Report from Mark Boriek, NJDFW Fisheries Biologist

The commercial gill netter in lower Delaware Bay near the Maurice River Cove reported that American shad are still moving through, catching 7 to 9 lbers. One he weighed at 13.5 lbs. He feels that the shad are more abundant compared to last year, as he has been catching similar numbers using half the amount of net. He said that the number of stripers has decreased and that Atlantic Menhaden (bunker) are showing up, signaling that the first schools of shad have moved further up the bay to deeper waters off of Fortesque.

Last night, April 1, Steve Meserve haul seined 30 shad. Returned 11 to the river, kept 9 roe and 10 bucks. "There were some big fish in there."

SHAD FISHING REPORT - 3/31/04

STEVE, FRED LEWIS' GRANDSON, REPORTS THEY HAULED 2 ROE AND 4 BUCK LAST EVENING. LET'S HOPE THIS RAIN DOESN'T SCREW UP THE RIVER.

MARK BORIEK, NJ DFW BIOLOGIST, REPORTS THE STRIPERS ARE RIPPING UP THE SHAD FISHERMEN'S NETS. FOR EVERY SHAD THEY CATCH THEY HAVE TO RELEASE A 100 STRIPERS.

KEEP REPORTING BY E-MAIL TO CONNERFISH@AOL.COM OR V-MAIL DURING THE DAY @ 215-674-1117.

SEE YOU ON THE RIVER

Tight lines Conner

3/30 - Report from Mark Boriek, NJDFW Fisheries Biologist

The commercial gill netter in the lower bay (Maurice River Cove) said that schools of shad are still moving through despite the east wind. He said he was getting 9 and 10 pounders. Also, a 14.5 lb. roe. Largest he ever saw was 15 lbs. Steve Meserve of the Lewis Fishery seined the first A. shad of the year, 2 roe and 6 bucks.

3/29 - Report from Mark Boriek, NJDFW Fisheries Biologist

The commercial gill netter in the upper bay off of the Cohansey River drifted 800 feet of the light gauge (A. shad can detect heavy gauge monofilament) monofilament for one mile. His net was ripped up by striped bass, although he did catch 100 of them that he released. Caught a total of 7 A. shad in the ends of the net. There are so many stripers that they fill the net first, the larger ones tearing through it. The shad avoid the entangled stripers, swimming the length of it and escape around the ends, a few are caught there.

SHAD FISHING REPORT - 3/27/04

THE RIVER IS IN VERY GOOD SHAPE, @ 14,000cfs.

STEVE AND FAMILY OFFICIALLY MADE THE FIRST HAUL OF THE SEASON THIS MORNING, AT THE LEWIS FISHERY, 17 CARP, 20 SUCKERS AND 2 CAT FISH. THIS IS AN EVENT YOU SHOULD BRING YOUR FAMILY TO SEE.

THE NEW YARDLEY RAMP IS IN BUT NOT CURED YET. PROBABLY MID-NEXT WEEK FOR AN OPENING THERE.

THE TRENTON POWER PLANT HAS BEEN SPOTTY. SHAD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT THERE EVERY DAY THIS WEEK, BUT IN VERY SHORT TIME SPANS.

DAVE, REPORTS 25 WERE CAUGHT THERE EARLY THIS MORNING IN A 15-20 MINUTE TIME FRAME BETWEEN THE 15-20 ANGLERS, THEN NOTHING FOR THE REST OF THE MORNING.

MARK, LANDED 4 LAST EVENING.

COMMERCIAL GILLNETTERS LANDED 300# OF ROE, SOME 7-9# AND 150# OF BUCKS IN THE BAY THIS WEEK.

THE RUN APPEARS TO BE ON SCHEDULE. YARDLEY SHOULD START TO HEAT UP THIS COMING WEEK. GOOD #s WILL BE IN THE LAMBERTVILLE AREA BY 4/15.

THE HYDROACOUSTICS ARRAY ON THE 202 BRIDGE IS REPORTING SMALL LOOSELY PACKED SCHOOLS MOVING THROUGH.

RUSS ALLEN AND OTHER NJ DF&W MARINE FISHERIES BIOLOGISTS TAGGED 300 STRIPERS IN THE DELAWARE BAY THIS WEEK.

STRIPERS ARE BEING TAKEN ON BLOODWORMS FROM COMMODORE BARRY TO THE ARSENAL.

THINGS WILL HEAT UP FAST NOW, SO KEEP REPORTING TO CONNERFISH@AOL.COM OR V- MAIL, DURING THE DAY, TO 215-674-1117.

SEE YOU ON THE RIVER.

Tight lines Conner

Shad Report - 3/16/04 - filed by NJDFW Fisheries Biologist Mark Boriek

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.

SHAD FISHING REPORT - 3/13/04

THE DRSFA FLEA MARKET WILL BE HELD AT THE SE WY CO FIRE CO. SUNDAY, MARCH 14 FROM 8AM TILL 2PM.

CHECKED OUT THE HOT WATER DISCHARGE AT THE TRENTON POWER PLANT THIS AFTERNOON.

SPENCE REPORTS HE AND HIS FRIEND CAUGHT 2 SHAD, 2 STRIPERS AND 1 HERRING FRIDAY. WATER TEMP IN THE DISCHARGE POOL WAS 53 DEGREES.

THE 2 BOATS SPOTTED ON THE RIVER WERE PFD FREE. NOT A SMART WAY TO TRAVEL ON WATER THIS COLD. WATER TEMP IN THE MAIN CHANNEL 41 DEGREES.

DON'T FORGET, THE BIG RAFFLE AT THE DRSFA MEETING 3/17/04 AT THE SE WY CO FIRE CO. ON RT. 378. START TIME 7:00 PM.

DON'T FORGET TO SEND IN YOUR REPORTS, E-MAIL CONNERFISH@AOL.COM OR V- MAIL DURING THE DAY AT 215-674-1117.

Tight lines Conner

SHAD FISHING REPORT - 3/11/04

THE SEASON IS ALMOST HERE SO LET'S GET STARTED.

PLEASE REPORT BY E-MAIL TO CONNERFISH@AOL.COM. LOCATION (GENERAL), WATER CONDITIONS, TEMPERATURE AND DIRT FACTOR ARE AS IMPORTANT AS NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO E-MAIL LEAVE A VOICE MAIL DURING THE DAY @ 215-674-1117.

THE GATE AT THE TRENTON POWER PLANT IS OPEN, LET'S KEEP IT CLEAN DOWN THERE.

MARK BORIEK, NJ DIV. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES BIOLOGIST REPORTS THE FIRST SHAD WAS NETTED 3-10-04 IN DELAWARE BAY. TEMP 48.

THE HYDROACOUSTICS ARE BEING INSTALLED ON THE 202 BRIDGE. THEY WILL RECORD ACTIVITY FROM MID MARCH THROUGH MAY.

THE FRED LEWIS FISHERY (RUN BY FRED'S GRANDSON STEVE MESERVE) PLANS ITS FIRST HAUL SEINE ON 3/20/04.

PLAN TO JOIN US FOR THE BIG SPRING MEETING 3/17/04, AT THE SE WY CO FIREHOUSE ON RT#378 IN BETHLEHEM PA. TIME 7 PM. EVERY KID WINS A DOOR PRIZE.

Tight lines Conner

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 - from Mark Boriek, NJ DFW Fisheries Biologist

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.

Future reports will be from Gary Conner, the voice of the Delaware River Shad Fishermen's Association's Shad Hotline. These reports will be provided solely for their informational value. The Division cannot vouch for their accuracy, though we have no reason to doubt it. Please call the Shad Hotline 610-954-0577 or 610-954-0578 for the latest shad updates on the Delaware River.

More information can be found in Mark Boriek's article on The American Shad Spawning Run. Boat access information is also available.

2003 Reports
2002 Reports
2001 Reports


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