Shad fishing is picking up on the Delaware River

There’s an old fisherman’s saying that when the Forsythia bloom the shad are making their way up the Delaware River for their annual run up to  New York State. 

And the saying must hold true as the Forsythia are in bloom all over and shad are being caught from the Bucks County area on up to Matamoros and beyond according to Mike from Mike’s Bait and Tackle in Nazareth. 

“So far most of the shad are small bucks no size or roe as yet. And they’re being caught from shore and from boat with most anglers using shad darts and flutter spoons in varied colors. Some will even hit diving crankbaits. But it’s been slower than usual at this time of year because the water remains cold,” he reports. But this week, he believes should be better as the weather is forecasted to be somewhat warmer. 

Last week, Andrew Hildebrand posted on Delaware River Shad Fishing social media site that he went eight for 13 in the Easton area. Also last week Bob Slobodian posted that he landed 31 in and lost some at the boat in three hours of fishing. Freedom Outdoors Guide Service posted they had over 40 bites in two hours with the largest shad weighing 5.3 pounds. Keyle Heydt posted that he and his buddy fished from shore and in two hours they had 34 shad between them. Heydt added that he went 13 landed for 17 hooked while his buddy did 8 for 17. From boat, Toby Kitchen had doubles and triples with 30 brought to net in two hours of fishing. 

Steve Meserve of the Lewis Commercial Fishery in Lambertville, NJ, hasn’t been catching much in his nets due to cold water temperatures and fluctuating water levels with all the rain storms we’ve been having. On one attempt last week, Meserve reported he had a decent haul and netted eight bucks that were all returned as he’s primarily interested in roe shad. 

For those who have never fished for shad, bank anglers on the Delaware customarily throw shad darts in varying colors of red/white, white/green or white/chartreuse as their heavy weight allows them to cast farther out in the river. Boat anglers usually use flutter spoons as the can be let out to flutter in the current behind the boat or on downriggers that some boat anglers use as they can be fished deeper. 

While this is going on, stripers have begun entering the Delaware River from New Jersey coast and from Maryland, Virginia and Delaware waters. 

At Jersey shore points, this past week saw a big body of striped bass finally push into the area. Raritan Bay welcomed an influx of fish that hit shads, metal lips and swim baits. Bloodworms also accounted for a number of stripers along the Bayshore beaches. Better bass fishing was also reported in Barnegat Bay with bigger bass caught over a wider area. More bunker appeared in the bay over the last week as well as reported by On the Water Magazine. 
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We’ll post more reports once striper catches become more frequent in the Bucks-Northampton county stretch of the Delaware River.