Don't Miss Georgia's Shad Run

If you mention "shad" to most anglers, what comes to mind is the small baitfish that is a popular forage food for black bass and stripers.

Gizzard and threadfin shad are small species that rarely reach more than a pound and are often netted for bait. American shad, however, are larger battlers that can be caught with fly or spin tackle and often reach 4 or 5 pounds.We also happen to have an amazing, but largely unrecognized, American shad fishery here in Georgia. The current state record is an 8-pound, 3-ounce monster from the Savannah River.

American shad live most of their lives offshore. However, once a year, the mature shad swim up rivers along the East Coast, beginning with the St. Johns river in January and gradually moving up the shoreline. South of Cape Hatteras, this run is much like a salmon run, where the adults spawn just one time before dying.In coastal Georgia and the Low Country, this run will last through March. The Ogeechee and Savannah rivers present some of the best fishing opportunities for shad.

Anglers using spinning tackle will use small jigs known as shad darts, as well as spoons.Though shad mainly eat plankton, they have a habit of striking at small fry and shrimp, which these lures imitate.To locate the shad, slowly troll parallel to the bank in 7-10 feet of water while dragging several darts and spoons.
If the current is strong, you may need a small diving planer or umbrella rig to get the lures down to a proper depth. Once a school is located, anchor up and vertical jig the shad darts on light 6-pound spinning tackle, similar to crappie fishing.

A fun alternative is to fly fish with small bead-eye streamers on a sinking tip line and get the fly to the proper depth.The best colors for lures and flies seem to be white, chartreuse and yellow.
Once hooked, an angler will almost instantly know if they have hooked a male or female.Females, fat with roe eggs, will not give much of a struggle. The males, however, are hard battlers whose acrobatics are so great that some even call them "freshwater tarpon."

Shad, especially served with the roe, are extremely delicious when prepared correctly.They do have many small bones, however, and some cooks will soak the fillets in buttermilk to soften them. Other locals use special filleting techniques to remove the bones, but these remain a well-guarded secret.
The daily recreational catch limit on American shad is eight in Georgia, but try to only keep a couple of the female roe shad, as these represent the future of the fishery.