American shad, once plentiful in the Hudson and the smaller rivers they return to each year to spawn, have suffered tremendous declines in recent years--so much so that the NY DEC declared them off-limits in the Hudson this year.
Nevertheless, the guides at Cross Current Fly Fishing think this is going to be a good year for shad on the Delaware.
Reports of 20+ fish days are common throughout the river up to the Delaware Water Gap. This past week the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission electrofished a stretch of river near Raubsville, PA and averaged 39 fish per hour, a very high number according to fisheries biologists.
Electrofishing, for the uninitiated, is the use of an electric current to knock fish senseless so they can be counted. (Or scooped into a bucket and eaten for dinner, if you're unsportsmanlike.)
