jus curious why everyone goes bonkers for the shad run every year. i have caught some huge shad at blue plains and hate them. they are slimy and a pain in the butt. Are they good eatin ? What am I missin here ?

Gizzard shad are very different from hickory and american shad.

They're easy to catch and you can catch ALOT of them. They fight hard and pull some nice acrobatics. Some people do like to eat them, and shad roe goes for $18/lb in my area ...

coworker actually offered to pay me if i caught any females with roe in them. lets go!

What shad are you allowed to keep. I know gizzard is mainly used for catfish bait so you can keep those. American shad I don't believe you can keep but hickory is fair game? Is this correct?

coworker actually offered to pay me if i caught any females with roe in them. lets go!

Wooo! Come down with Josh!

What shad are you allowed to keep. I know gizzard is mainly used for catfish bait so you can keep those. American shad I don't believe you can keep but hickory is fair game? Is this correct?

Correct, you won't catch many gizzard though and you can use cut hickory for cats...or whole ones if you like!

when? he never told me when he was going...

The Potomac River Fisheries Commission has a moratorium on American and Hickory shad (as well as river herring)

Can you even catch gizzard shad? I don't think I've ever hooked one. I know in some years during the run I've seen them piled ankle deep on top of Walkers Dam. I've seen them by the hundreds on the Chick River during a die off. The eagles and ospreys go crazy. I know everything eats them. But for a food fish, I heard they rank just below mud in taste.

Can you even catch gizzard shad? I don't think I've ever hooked one. I know in some years during the run I've seen them piled ankle deep on top of Walkers Dam. I've seen them by the hundreds on the Chick River during a die off. The eagles and ospreys go crazy. I know everything eats them. But for a food fish, I heard they rank just below mud in taste.

I've only ever caught them with a gill net when catching bait for catfish and seeing as they are full of mud when you cut them up, I'd definitely imagine they taste like mud.

I think the big ones only bottom feed on shellfish, though...so I can't imagine they'd hit a dart or spoon.

EDIT: And there's definitely a reason some people call them "mud shad".

Can you even catch gizzard shad? I don't think I've ever hooked one. I know in some years during the run I've seen them piled ankle deep on top of Walkers Dam. I've seen them by the hundreds on the Chick River during a die off. The eagles and ospreys go crazy. I know everything eats them. But for a food fish, I heard they rank just below mud in taste.

I think when people are talking about catching gizzards they mean they are talking about foul-hooking them. Americans and hickories can be caught on flies, small jigs, spoons, etc, etc...

^^ Yep, thats how I was catching them the other day. It would feel like a bite coming across the school and fish and when I went to set the hook and reel them in they would be hooked in the back or tail. I released all them but now I should have kept some for bait.

The Potomac River Fisheries Commission has a moratorium on American and Hickory shad (as well as river herring)

Sorry, just to be clear, on the james:

Hickory you can keep, no limit.

Herring you can keep, no limit.

White perch you can keep, no limit

American you can not keep