Photo by Vic Attardo

While shad stocks along the East Coast are not “recovering,” according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the same agencys assessment of the Delaware Rivers shad run is one of “stable stock abundance.”

Mark Mulrine, chairman of the Forks of the Delaware Shad Tournament, the largest shad contest on the river, said that last year featured “another good run” and that “winning weights are up over the last two or three years.”

This half-empty, half-full scenario is what Delaware River shad anglers have faced for a number of seasons. But that hasnt put a damper on their expectations of hooking and landing a powerful shad in the mighty currents of the Delaware River.

Here are some of the best places to go to tangle with the fast-running, high-jumping, bulldog-powerful and -- when flavorfully smoked -- great-tasting American shad:

EASTON-PHILLIPSBURG
No matter what the annual status of the shad fishery, the Easton-Phillipsburg area remains a premier hotspot for catching spring shad. Its also angler-friendly, with a succession of boat ramps and wading spots.

The short distance between Bushkill Creek and the rapids below the Easton railroad bridges can be traversed by a small boat with a propeller engine. But to get above the Bushkill Creek rapids, or the stretch below the bridges, a jet boat is required.

Actually, there are three bridges that make fishing worthwhile in the Easton-Phillipsburg area. The channels beneath the “Free Bridge,” the northernmost crossing, are known shad interceptors.

Another good spot is the channel that swings out of the Lehigh River and crosses under the first railroad bridge. This cut can be worked by anglers wading along the Easton bank, a sufficiently legal distance from the Lehigh River fish ladder.

Below the Lehigh River dam and the channel on the outside of this knoll running toward the first railroad bridge, theres a tiny spit of an island, or shoal thats quite good for boaters.

Another hotspot for small boaters in this section is downstream of the second railroad bridge. The water flattens out for a distance before the long riffles upstream of the Easton water treatment plant.

This can be a good location when shad are schooling before going into the churning Lehigh runs.

Most anglers who focus on the fishing bridges launch at the Phillipsburg boat ramp rather than the old ramp beneath Scotts Park in Easton. (Continued)

This year, the Forks of the Delaware Shad Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 26 through Saturday, May 3.

Last years winning fish weighed 6.76 pounds and measured 23 inches.