Bacher: American Shad Run Begins on Sacramento River

SACRAMENTO – The American shad is one of the most popular and yet most mysterious fish that anglers pursue on California’s Central Valley rivers in the spring. Shad are known for the great fights that they provide on light spinning and fly gear, as well as the fine table fare they offer when smoked, pickled or baked.

The shad have begun to make their appearance on the Sacramento River in the Capital City metropolitan area, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of anglers lining the river banks or wading at Freeport, Miller Park, Discovery Park and other popular spots.

On Monday, April 29, Doug MacPherson and I checked out the action at Miller Park in Sacramento. Anglers caught several shad ranging from 1-1/2 to 3 pounds before we got there, but none while we were there for an hour in the afternoon.

Successful anglers hooked their fish on a mixture of chartreuse and pink grubs on jigheads and red/white darts. As the weather warms up this month and more fish move into the system, anglers can expect increasing angling success on these hard-fighting members of the herring family.

Shad, like striped bass, are native to the Eastern Seaboard. Shad were first introduced to the West Coast from the Hudson River in New York in 1871.

After shipment across the country in 8-gallon milk cans, the California Fish Commission released about ten thousand shad from the Hudson River into the Sacramento River.

Since then, the feisty fish have migrated from saltwater every year to spawn in the American and other Central Valley rivers. In addition to the Sacramento and San Joaquin River systems, shad migrate into the Russian, Klamath, Trinity and other rivers.

Few studies have been conducted in California on shad populations, although studies have been done on them in other states where they are found. Their numbers have declined since the beginning of state and federal water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in 1967, but less so than other pelagic species on the Delta.

The annual California Department of Fish and Wildlife fall midwater trawl survey, where the young-of-the-year shad and other fish species are surveyed at a number of locations throughout the estuary, showed a 67.7% overall shad decline from 1967 through 2020, according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

In contrast, the fall midwater trawl abundance indices for striped bass, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, splittail and threadfin shad between 1967 and 2020 declined by 99.7%, 100%, 99.96%, 100%, and 95%, respectively, so the shad have been faring much better than the other pelagic species.

The decline of these fish species occurs in the context of the overall ecological collapse of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, due to the massive export of water by state and federal water pumping facilities on the Delta and other factors.

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Delta Stripers On Bite

The solid fishing for striped bass continues on both the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers as more fish in the 8 to 15 lb. range appear in the catches.

“The stripers have been really biting,” said Jeff Soo Hoo of Soo Hoo Sportfishing. “My last four days of fishing produced fast action with multiple hook-ups. There are big groups of fish showing.’”

“We released fish weighing 13 and 15 pounds on recent trips,” he noted. “We are releasing hens and keeping the smaller males. It’s prime striper season at this time. We have been trolling, spooning and drifting live bait. We’ve been concentrating on fishing the San Joaquin River from Prisoner’s Point to the Antioch Bridge.”

Mark Wilson, striped bass fishing expert, confirmed the top-notch striper fishing on the Delta.

“Yesterday, four of us in my boat hooked nine keepers and seven shakers,” he stated on April 27. “Our top four fish weighed 12, 8, 8 and 6 pounds. The fish were a mixture of males and females.”

“We hooked our fish while trolling in 12 to 15 feet of water with deep-diving Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows. We fished the San Joaquin from the Antioch Bridge to Old River Flats. The fish started spawning on April 1,” stated Wilson.

“On my previous trip, we trolled with shallow-running Yo-Zuris on the west bank of the Sacramento River,” said Wilson. “We ended up with limits of striped bass for two anglers, releasing the larger ones. We caught 10 keepers and three shakers. The two biggest fish weighed 10 and 15 pounds.”

The third Annual Barry Canevaro Striper Derby, held on April 6 out of the Rio Vista boat ramp, was a big success, according to Ken Baccetti, President of the California Striped Bass Association-Isleton Delta Chapter.

“The fishing was good and 14 stripers in the 20” to 23” slot were checked into the weigh station,” he reported. “The five derby winners were drawn from those 14 anglers. The five winners of the derby are: 1st Place, Paul Boley; 2nd Place, Craig Perry; 3rd Place, Robert Williams; 4th Place, Steve Martinez; and 5th Place, Ronald Fragg.”

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San Francisco Bay Halibut Are Hitting

Trolling for halibut on San Francisco Bay has been excellent during periods of favorable tides and water conditions and slower during big tides and windy days when the water muddies up.

“Fishing was phenomenal today,” said James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing on Friday, April 26. “We finished off with full limits of halibut and a handful of striped bass. We had some of the best grade of fish so far this season with a couple over 20 pounds “

The total count was 14 limits of halibut to 22 pounds and five striped bass to 9 pounds.

Fishing was tougher the following day when the wind was blowing hard.

“We finished up with over a fish per rod on the halibut and a handful of striped bass with some great quality fish landed,” reported Smith. “High winds and muddy waters chased us out of the first spot before both boats rallied on a nice grade of halibut.”

The final count was 20 halibut to 22 pounds and 10 striped bass to 10 pounds for 18 anglers aboard the California Dawn II and 10 halibut to 20 pounds and 8 striped bass for 14 anglers aboard the California Dawn I.

On their latest trip on April 30, Smith reported, “We finished up with a fish and a half on the halibut today and a few bass. Tides are starting to get right for solid fishing.”

The final count was 31 halibut and 4 striped bass for 20 anglers.

Mike Rescino, Captain of the Lovely Martha at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, reported halibut success on San Francisco Bay on May 1.

“Here we go — limits again,” said Rescino. “What a great way to kick off the month of May. We finished up at 10:15 a.m. with 10 limits (20) of quality halibut."

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: American Shad Run Begins on Sacramento River