Shad watch

By ED WESELY

Through Sunday, May 2, shad fishermen reported “spotty” results on the Upper Delaware. Although an estimated 10,000 shad passed acoustical counters near Lambertville, PA during the previous week, action was slow around Narrowsburg, 138 miles upriver.

Joe Cherney, casting at the entrance section of Skinners Falls, hooked five and landed two on April 30. “The river was running a little high and we had to clean some weedy stuff off our jugs after each cast. The water temperature was 51 F,” Cherney wrote.

Rob Gronowski, who floated from Narrowsburg to Lackawaxen on April 29, reported, “a couple of shad were caught during our float. The shad are late this year mainly due to colder water temperatures we had in March.”

He surmised, “the shad are mostly below Milford. I saw few, if any, during our float.”

Finally, local guide Mike Padua reported that his party landed two 19- to 20-inch shad several miles above Callicoon on April 30.