While largemouth bass might be known as America’s Fish, the American shad are known as “America’s Founding Fish” because, in the past, the American shad was one of the Atlantic Coast’s most abundant and economically important fish.
Pretty much now known as a sport fish for light tackle enthusiasts, shad were an important food source for indigenous peoples, early colonists, and generations of Virginians. George Washington took advantage of the bountiful Potomac River shad fishery by commercially fishing for shad, which provided both food and income for the Mount Vernon estate. Legend has it that an early shad run in the Schuylkill River (Pennsylvania) in 1778, during the Revolutionary War, fed Washington’s troops that were starving at Valley Forge, which in turn enabled them to fight on and help the United States earn victory. Though there’s little factual proof of that story, it’s a reflection of just how central shad have been to the culture and history of the country, and of Virginia.
Early European colonists were impressed with the sheer number of fish involved in shad migrations, as evidenced by Alexander Whitaker writing in 1613: “The rivers abound with fish both small and great. The sea-fish come into our rivers in March… great schools of herring come in first; shads of a great bigness follow them.”
As the Europeans pushed westward, they continued to marvel at the abundance of fish that appeared each spring. Robert Beverley, a historian, wrote in 1705: “In the spring of the year, herrings come up in such abundance… to spawn, that it is almost impossible to ride through, without treading on them.”
European colonists depended on Indigenous Peoples to teach them how to catch and preserve shad, often hiring them to catch massive quantities of fish, which the colonists would salt and store.
Between 1750 and 1850, colonization grew the Atlantic Coast’s population from hundreds of thousands to two million people. Shad fishing became more commercialized and efficient, with larger crews and seine nets. In the 1840s, fishermen were removing more than 40,000 tons of shad from the rivers annually.
This increasing demand depleted the American shad population precipitously. By the end of the 19th century, the annual catch of shad was just 4,000 tons of shad. Overfishing wasn’t the only culprit in the population drop. Dam construction on Virginia’s rivers in the late 19th century resulted in the loss of access to substantial portions of natural spawning grounds for shad. Pollution also had an impact.
In the 1980s documented drops in shad populations resulted in multiple regional harvest moratoria in the surrounding Chesapeake Bay watershed.
In 19921-93 The DWR and their partners at the Virginia Commonwealth University worked collaboratively to conduct American shad stocking research.
In 1994 Virginia placed a moratorium on the harvest of American shad from Virginia’s rivers and the Bay. In conjunction with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a stocking program was initiated in an effort to restore shad populations to their former glory in Virginia. This project used state and federal hatcheries to reintroduce “tagged” shad fry into select tidal rivers (e.g. the James River) across the state.
In 1999 Bosher’s Fishway, completed in 1999, provides fish with access to 137 miles of the James River and 168 miles of its major tributaries. Not since 1823 could migrating fish, such as American shad, swim past the dam.
As with any fishway, one of the primary objectives is to provide smooth flowing water that attracts fish away from the frothy turbulent waters flowing over the dam. Fishways are positioned and designed to maximize this “attraction flow,” guiding fish into the fishway. Once fish enter the Bosher’s fishway, they negotiate their way through a series of 13 “baffles” and resting pools as they make their ascent. The term “vertical slot” refers to the 16-inch gap in the baffle wall that divides one pool from the next. Fish can easily swim through the vertical slots, gaining nine inches each time they move from pool to pool. Near the upper end, they pass by a 4×7’ counting window before exiting the fishway into the river above the dam.
Between 1992 and 2017, state and federal fisheries agencies in Virginia ultimately stocked more than 100 million American shad fry in the James River. Although stocked fish were returning to the James, the total annual numbers did not demonstrate a trend toward a restored American shad population. Due to a multitude of factors such as offshore fisheries, invasive species, incomplete habitat connectivity due to dams and water pollution, the American shad’s progress toward recovery in its native range continues to be limited. These impacts, coupled with a lack of dedicated funding, culminated in the suspension of the stocking program in 2017.
Other ongoing restoration efforts for American shad include fish passage projects throughout the Commonwealth to either remove or provide fishway access through man-made dams, reopening hundreds of miles of upstream access to migrating fish.
The DWR also works with a variety of partners to reduce upland erosion, and to prevent in-stream impacts to migrating fish and to limit anadromous fish losses associated with water intakes and discharges.
According to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources biologists, female shad release eggs at night when water temperatures reach about 61°F. Once fertilized, the eggs drift downstream with the current and hatch in 48 to 70 hours. Females can contain more than 300,000 eggs. After hatching, the young fry spend their first summer in freshwater and move towards higher salinity waters by fall.
Today many sport anglers enjoy catch and release fishing for shad returning to spawn from the ocean using a variety of tactics. You can use multi-hook, Sabiki rigs, cast shad darts and tiny spoons on light tackle, even use shad flies on a fly rod for the ultimate challenge in area waters like the tidal James, Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. See sidebar.
Noted Virginia fly caster Robert Thomas has pursued shad for years. His preferred gear is a 4 weight to 8 weight rod with a 6 weight being the best all-around choice.
“I use the heavier rods for high, fast, stained water flow. I prefer t use the lighter rods for lower, clearer water,” Thomas told W2. He also noted that if the rod is to be used for both shad and stripers, then the 8 weight would be the rod of choice.
For his reel he uses a single action, large arbor design with size matched to rod and holding at least 100 yards of backing. He says you never know when you might hook into a big catfish or carp.
His line choice is an integrated shooting head which consists of 30’ of sinking line attached to a floating running line. This will get the fly down in the water column but still allow you to mend the line as necessary. These lines normally come in “grain weights” and should be matched to the rod. 4wt/5wt match with a 150-grain line, 6wt with a 200-grain, 7wt with a 250-grain and 8wt with a 300-grain.
Thomas uses a straight piece of three foot long fluorocarbon, testing between 8 lbs. and 16 lbs. The clearer the water, the lighter the leader.
Thomas says he’s not too picky about his choice of flies. He says any small–size 8-4, bright fly will work. Orange, pink, chartreuse, white and red are popular colors. Small Clouser Minnows, crappie jigs, and bonefish flies all work well. He uses bigger flies in stained water and smaller flies in clearer water. Size 6 is the best all-around size.
