The American shad is the largest member of the shad and herring family. They are a schooling fish and forage primarily on plankton, but will also eat other larger sea life as they grow. Herring are a group of thin, silvery fish that are found in temperate waters of the North Pacific and Atlantic. In some parts of their range, they may travel more than 500 miles upstream and inland to their spawning grounds, many returning to the same spawning grounds every year. This means they spend most of their life at sea and come to fresh water to spawn, or reproduce. The American shad, hickory shad, blueback herring and alewife are all types of herring, and are all anadromous. We used these little fish to try to tempt largemouth bass to our lures. Threadfin shad are believed to have healthy populations and are stocked in many places as forage for other game fish. The shad we caught were most likely threadfin shad, Dorosoma petenense, which are commonly found in large streams and reservoirs.These shad are relatively small, the majority of them no longer than 1 inch, and are usually caught for bait to catch other fish. Lake Tillery has threadfin and gizzard shad in it. North Carolina actually has six different species of shad: the American shad, hickory shad, blueback herring, alewife, threadfin shad, and gizzard shad. We began our day before sun up and cast our nets to catch an interesting little bait fish – the shad. Last fall, I was invited to join some friends on a fishing trip on Lake Tillery. We are fortunate to have a variety of fish species and a number of high quality streams and lakes to fish in. Fishing is a very popular pastime here, and for good reason. Time to start thinking about heading to our lakes and rivers for water-based recreational activities, and for many of you, the activity at the top of your list of favorite warm-weather pastimes will involve a line and a pole. Days are getting longer and bulky winter clothing is replaced with t-shirts and flip flops. If you’re like me, this warmer weather is more than enough encouragement to spend more time outside.
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