Penn’s Outdoors

Several years ago as shad were flourishing on the Susquehanna, one of my fishing trips was made when we started to catch shad after shad.  These fish fought hard on light equipment and were a lot of fun.

Recently, I was talking with someone who fishes the Susquehanna more than I do.  I asked if he was catching any shad this spring.  He said that he wasn’t which surprised me until I started doing some investigating.

American shad populations aren’t only down but they are almost out.  Shad populations are down 90% on the Susquehanna over the last 7 years.  That’s amazing.  A lot of biologist attribute it to the rise in striped bass who love to eat the shad. 

Shad have never been a targeted species for Susquehanna River fishermen like those our friends who love to fish for them on the Delaware.  So, many of us won’t notice.  But to lose these fish for the sportsmen who like to target them as well as a source of food for other fish would be a shame.

While there isn’t much we can do about the stripers eating shad like candy, we should support efforts to ban keeping shad in PA as well as other States that have seen such drastic changes in their shad populations.  We need to keep shad around as part of the fishing landscape in Penn’s Outdoors.