Shad

[jens]

I am looking forward to catching these underrated fighting fish at the end of the month. Last year was my first time. I gave all my fish away last year, my buddy swears by them for crab bait. What are some recipes or brines for the smoker? I know some of you guys are experts in this species so any advice will be appreciated.

And who else excited for this fishery?

[Fish_Bait111397]

I dont know any one who catches them and eats them, my uncle & I throw out a net and bring in about 20-25 per throw, and then there Striped Bass bait.

Good Luck!

FB

[wolverine]

Shad are great fighting fish. Every year I look forward to doing battle with these giant herring look a likes.
I normally do a 3 or 4 day camping trip around Memorial Day as the run is usually in full swing by then. With the cold temps in the big river the run may be a week or 2 later than normal. Depending on how the state salmon regs are, some years kings are legal to retain. It's surprising how many kings grab onto shad darts and wee Dick Nite spoons down there. I like to stay at the Lewis & Clark Campground as its only minutes from the dam. However, its right next to the rail road tracks and trains come by at about 80 miles an hour.
I'm not a big fan of eating fresh shad. The eastern Europeans and most Asians do like them. I give most of what I catch to whoever wants them. The Korean ladies have fed me shad cooked over a hibachi and it wasn't bad tasting, bony as all get out so you have to separate the meat from the bones with chop sticks. Enough soy, garlic, and ginger on it and its not bad tasting. I've also ate fresh shad in fish ball soup with the Russians and Ukies down there. Again, not bad, but not great either. My choice for good fresh eats is the roe. Washed, split, rolled in flour, dipped in egg wash, rolled in cracker crumbs, and then fried is good eats. Have to have a splatter screen as if the eggs get to popping hot oil goes flying.
I smoke and then can 20 or 30 shad every year. Bleed out the messy buggers, gut, de-head, split, rinse, put in plastic bags, and then on ice. If you don't keep the fish ice cold you might as well throw your cooler away as it will smell far worse than bad. When I get home I rinse off the filets again, then put them into a cold salt water rinse for about 20 minutes to get any remaining blood or slime off, the shad then goes into a dry brown sugar, non iodized salt mix for 3 or 4 hours. This is just for flavor and I pull the fish out when they juice out some and get firm. hen its a rinse, pat dry, put on oiled smoker racks to let a pellicle form (the racks are oiled so the scales don't stick for easier clean up), then its into the smoker for only 30 - 45 minutes. I only want the smoke flavor not to hard smoke preserve. Out of the smoker, scale side down on a flat surface, slide a knife blade between the flesh and the scales and separate. I cut the shad pieces into chunks that will fit into pint jars. Make sure the jars are boiled and clean. Put a peeled garlic clove, a slice of onion, a couple peppercorns, a pinch of pickling spice, and a pinch of salt in the bottom of the jar, add the fish pieces, and top with a half teaspoon of Canola oil. Into the pressure cooker and process per the cooker directions. Another flavor is a garlic clove, slice of onion, pinch of salt, tablespoon of mustard, fish, again topped with the Canola oil.
My canned shad never lasts much beyond fall salmon season because I always take a couple of jars along fishing. Everyone thinks its smoked white king salmon. I don't tell them that they just ate shad until they basically have licked the jar(s) clean. Yeah it can be a lot of work, but it is good eats.

[jens]

@Wolverine, I was thinking the run would be later as well, water has been cold. I'll be keeping an eye on the counts as well as the Fish Cam. I seen a gorgeous Springer caught last year on a 1/16th red and yellow dart and several roll in front of me down at the Bonneville. We even hooked into a couple monster Sturgeon also.

I'll keep a few to dine, a few to smoke.. and the rest for crab bait. I will say, my cooler that I held my Shad in last year, somehow the drain came loose... You can imagine the smell of my car...I tried everything to rid the stench.. Hopefully I'll be down there Memorial Weekend also, plan to fish a couple days and then head back down for Fathers Day weekend.

[MarkFromSea]

Wow! My mouth is watering from reading Wolverine's recipe for canned shad.

[wolverine]

Shad makes very good crab bait but it really is a great shrimp bait. We had 3 limits in 40 minutes this weekend while those around us were getting exercise setting, pulling, and re-setting their pots. I have an old hand meat grinder (and 2 spares) that I bought at garage sales. I grind up entire bled out shad, scales and all, along with year old salmon from the freezer, stuff the resulting goop into panty hose (not telling how I get mine as this is a family site) that I put into qt paper milk cartons. Tie off the panty hose and re-fold the milk carton closed and put in the freezer. To use, I pull them out of the freezer and put the cartons in an old ice chest that never gets used for anything else as the goop really stinks it up. When we rig the pots we peel away the carton from the slightly thawed goop and tie it into the pot. Beats every other bait out there. Just don't mix any leftover crab, shrimp, or their by products into the mix as the shrimp like it better without their cousins in it.

[knotabassturd]

I tell U what jens, if U can run into wolverine down there please steal his fishing brain secrets while fishing for shad! He's practically a bible...

Darn impressed whenever I read his info.

Oh ya, then report back to us on how he gets his pantyhose. Maybe save the less meaningful stuff for offseason.

Speaking of which, I've been in serious offseason mode for some time. Hoping to start to get back out on a few lakes fairly near term. really wanting to get after the pinks this year for my wife to make fish cake and that way I can save the chinook and coho 100% for the smoker!

It is wolverine's fault ;-) for waking me up into posting even though I have not been out on the water in some time (months).

Hope everyone out there is doing well in their fishing endeavors.

[racfish]

Shad are delicious smoked. The eggs are even better when breaded and fried. Shad roe has always been our family favorite.The fish itself smokes very nice cuz its so nice and oily. Great source of the Omega 3 fatty acids. This is the time. Darts work best and have lots of extra darts. The rocks are merciless on the big C. and its tribs. Good luck all.

[jens]

No Shad over Memorial weekend. I fished 5/28/2011 1 small adult Springer and lost 1 shad.. super slow, but happy to get a Springer on a Shad Dart.

[rjn cajun]

Don`t wanna hijack the thread but I gotta know if ya`ll are talking about the same shad that we have in the south? The ones the bass make most of there diet on? I didn`t think we had any around these parts and didn`t think they got as big as what you guys are talking about. If in fact we are talking about the same ones???

[Fish_Bait111397]

The ones I catch down south with the throw net are usually 3-5 inches in length. With a few bigger ones hittin the 7-8 inches. There a herring look-a-like and have a black dot right behind there head.

[racfish]

The shad Ive caught on the Big C have been considerably larger. I dont think a Bass would try for our shad. The put up a nice fight and much larger then bass food. They could eat the bass.Ive been fishing along time so my weight perception could be off a lil due to 50 years of embelishing size.

[wolverine]

Rin. they are not the same. The WA shad were originally transplanted from the east coast to the Sacramento river drainage. They have since migrated up the coast. West coast shad live in saltwater, only coming into freshwater to spawn.

[rjn cajun]

Rin. they are not the same. The WA shad were originally transplanted from the east coast to the Sacramento river drainage. They have since migrated up the coast. West coast shad live in saltwater, only coming into freshwater to spawn.

Thanks Wolverine I didn`t think they were the same due to the size difference you guys were talking about. But ya never know so thought I`d ask.

[phishphool]

Usually fish for shad at Umatilla and I am really watching the count eager to make that first trip. I think the roe is the best part of the shad, but I can them and use them in casseroles or fish cakes just like you would use any canned fish. Our family's favorite is to saute some onions and celery in butter until just softened. Add your canned shad along with a can of cream of mushroom soup and about 1/4 cup water. A can of mushrooms, some chow mein noodles and cashews. Put in a casserole, top with a few more chow mein noodles and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Better than tuna!

Anyone been to Umatilla yet? Is the count high enough to make the trip worth while?

[racfish]

Ive been watching the Dam Cam at Bonneville. Seems like only trickles of shad . Now I cant watch it all day but I havent seen the window packed yet. They should or probably ran up fast in the high waters.

[wolverine]

Rac, I looked at the cameras at the dam at 3 pm. Shad are really swimming past both windows. They seem to move right after daylight and start again mid/late afternoon until near dark.