Hunt Smart, Fish Hard: Shad Shooting

Years ago when I lived in New Jersey there was a fishing contest being held on the Delaware River for shad every year. At that time it became a huge contest. Fishermen from all over entered the contest. They gave away prizes for first, second. and third places every day. At one point if you beat the record weight, the bank would pay $10,000. This got everybody’s attention.

Even the professional boxer Larry Holmes, “The Easton Assassin,” got into fishing for the shad. The only problem with fishing the Easton-Philipsburg bridge area when Larry Holmes was fishing there were so many body guards (boats) you couldn’t cast a line in. The road (Larry Holmes Drive) is right along the side of the weigh in.

The shad would swim upstream from the ocean to New York and lay their eggs and make the return to the ocean. There was the factory that would discharge hot water into the river. This spot was like a resting point and a warm spot for the shad. Everybody tried to get to this spot to try their luck at $10,000. The only bait we used was a 1/16 ounce gold plated shad dart, nothing else. I lost third place by two ounces.

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