The shad have arrived

Anglers up and down the Delaware are keeping one another up-to-the-minute on shad fishing conditions. From their reports, it looks like the American shad has made it to the Water Gap and beyond, including the Upper Delaware.
The Delaware River Shad Fisherman's Association, a nonprofit conservation group working to preserve, protect, and restore migratory fish to the Delaware and its tributaries offers a log at drsfa.org, where anglers give updates on what they've found while out on the river. The association partners with the Fish & Wildlife Service, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the Delaware Riverkeeper, the City of Easton, Cabela's, and the Pew Environmental Trust, among others.
Here are some highlights from the association's log over the past few days, starting with the most recent reports:
Tuesday, April 24 RPS reporting from Greeley, Pa., at 8:16 p.m.: "Fished Zane Grey tonight 4:00-7:00 hooked 5 landed 3 all on chartreuse darts water temp was 51.
Komar reporting from Vernon, N.J., at 3:17 p.m.: "Fished Bushkill on Sunday, water temp was 41 when we started. We caught about 20, all bucks on spoons. The water temp was 43 when we left. Looks like we will get washed out for the next couple of days. 2 to 3 inches of rain coming our way. Keep the lines tight."
Joseph C. reporting from Phoenixville, Pa., at 1:02 p.m.: "Nothing like a 'huge push' fishing from the shore below Lambertville this morning, but it was my best morning there yet this year with 7 fish in a little more than 2 hours. Only 1 roe, the rest very small bucks. Double dart rig with fish hitting both larger and smaller dart. One of the regulars there was in on the mayhem fishing from a boat by the Trenton railway bridge yesterday. He's fished a long time and had never seen the like of it in numbers of fish and average size."
Shadfather reporting from Easton, Pa., at 7:33 a.m.: "Fished about 4 hours yesterday afternoon fishing some different spots other than the usual highly productive spot. Caught 10 along with my largest of the season so far at 24 inches and 5 pounds 5 ounces. Wanted to see how close my weight guess was. It was pretty close. Also found where not to fish too."
Monday, April 23 Fish Whisperer reporting from the Water Gap at 12:08 p.m.: "I caught 3 bucks; 2 other people fishing — they each caught 3 — water still cold."
onemoreshad reporting from Hatfield, Pa., at 8:52 p.m.: "I can confirm the HUGE PUSH. We fished lower river today. Two of us in boat and could not even run more than 3 rods together. Put 100 in boat in 6 hours and missed or lost another 25-35. Many boats with 15-20 fish per hour. Crazy. At one time I saw a dozen boats and everyone had fish on. Many triples when we had a 3rd rod out. COMPLETE MAYHEM. Glad we where part of it!! Tight lines!!
Riverwolf reporting from Coopersburg, Pa., at 8:21 p.m.: "Fished south of Easton today...some nice roes up to 6lbs...didn't scale but been doing this long enough to know a big fish...HUGE push of fish coming through lower river...I mean HUGE..rediculas catch rates...just in time for tourney....
James L. reporting from Shohola, Pa., at 7:50 p.m.: "Fished the Matamoras area tonight. I managed one shad. I saw about 15 caught among 10 anglers from 4-6pm. I had to leave, but hopefully they have some extra luck."
RPS reporting from Greeley, Pa., at 6:53 p.m.: "Fished 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm tonight fished at Zane Grey, Barryville, and below Pond Eddy got nothing water temp was 49 at Barryvile."
Sunday, April 22 RPS reporting from Greeley, Pa., at 6:32 p.m.: "Fished Zane Grey from 2:30-5:30 caught one walleye no other hits water temp got up too 47 this afternoon. There was three other guys fishing two from shore one in a kayak they didn't catch anything ether."
Tom reporting from Trenton, N.J., at 1:49 p.m.: "Fished in Trenton from 10am to 1pm at near high tide to mid tide. A lot of action, I caught 24 shad and lost about 10 or so. The fish were super active...lots of jumping. Mostly everyone was catching fish. I was using a one-half ounce weight, and flutter spoons."
Thursday, April 19 Joseph C. reporting from Phoenixville, Pa., at 7:55 a.m. "I'm amazed and frustrated by how long it's taking for the river to come back down to more fishable levels. The fact that the temperature of the water is down to 45F bugs me, too. Who's in charge! I am not happy with how this fishing season is being run. 2 for 4 on the season so far... sad."
Related story:"Surveys show strong rebound of American shad in the Delaware": https://bit.ly/2Hrs0Hb