I went fishing with my friend David last week. He hadn’t done any fishing since moving to Oregon and he wanted to get back into it. He specifically mentioned trying for shad. The fish counts at the dam have been high, so we threw the rods in the car after work one evening and headed out to Cascade Locks to give it a try. It’s a good place to try if you don’t have a boat, and the drive out there is lovely on a summer evening. The locks used to be the only way to get past the rapids there, but Bonneville Dam covered them up. They took down the lock gates, but left the concrete structure.
The way you rig up is to tie a loop at the end of your line and attach a 1 ounce cannonball sinker. Then 14 inches above that, tie another loop and thread on a red number 2 hook along with a small clump of the yarn of your choice (popular colors include pink, white, and chartreuse). Then you repeatedly drift your rig at the speed of the current as deep as you can get it, and within a foot of the wall. The current is about 4-6 mph, so the fish hug the walls of the old locks to get out of the fast water. The fish are moving quickly and hit out of aggression as they are migrating upriver to spawn, so you have to be ready for a quick hookset or you will miss them.
David’s friend John was the first person to touch a fish, so we all switched to the color he was using (chartreuse). David figured out that we were a few feet above the fish, so we let out more line and started getting bit more frequently. If we looked 100 yards downstream, we could see people below us hooking up, and then we knew that in about 30 seconds, another pod of fish was coming through and we would get ready for the bite. We ended up landing four and losing a few others after a couple hours of fishing. All in all, it was a fun evening.
I encourage you to take a kid shad fishing, as the action is fast and furious, and the 2-6 lb fish put up a good fight. You need a fishing license, and there is no limit on the number you can keep. Please be advised though that they are extremely bony and fishy-smelling, so most people toss them back unless you plan on smoking and canning them to soften the bones. David tried eating one with somewhat hilarious results. He said the flavor of the fish was good, but that each bite was loaded with fine little bones that felt like bristly hairs in his mouth and throat. Not exactly a pleasant eating experience. Catch and release is probably the way to go unless you have a smoker and canning supplies. I have a smoker, but I haven’t learned how to do canning yet.
Maybe one of you can teach me how to do it in exchange for me teaching you how to smoke fish?
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Sweetly, David brought me a steaming plate of vinegar-glazed shad after he returned from the trip. Sadly, it was 11:30pm and I’d already brushed my teeth and the boudoir was then infused with the joy of fish-stank for the rest of the evening. But, like I said, it was sweet and adorable.
I posted a bit about cleaning/cooking/eating the meat here:
http://www.davidhoenig.com/blog/2008/07/07/fishing-of-the-shad/
Thanks again for taking us Jeff!
David,
Here is the fillet knife and the fillet board that I use. You can get the knife at Andy and Bax, and the fillet board a few doors down at Ollie Damon’s.
If I was a good friend, I would have told you about these before we went. Sorry about that!
Cheers,
Motor
The Gerber fillet knife with the sharpener in the sheath is key to keeping it razor sharp. The other nice feature of the fillet knife is that the blade bends, which is the key to doing the job quickly and cleanly.
No, shad fishing isn’t always the best way to go out, but I’ve done it outside the Williamette’s urban area while I was in grad school. Let me tell you, anyone that’s brave enough to try to saute and fry these are definitely in for the “treat” you described. I personally like it smoked (Gold Star makes it really good whenever I decide to purchase some) when I do it myself and it comes out pretty good for someone like me. I bet it would taste even better if you boil it out, then smoke it, but I haven’t tried that yet. How do you prepare your shad?
> How do you prepare your shad?
I think smoking and canning is the easiest approach. I’ve never tried it thought because it’s a lot of work, and as you know, there are a lot of other tasty fish swimming around these parts.