[Waterfish]

Sunday, we launched out of Scappose Bay Marina and cruised up to **** Island. This was our first time shad fishing. Before we left, I bought a book by Lenox Dick about shad fishing. The author claims that "Once a shad is de-boned, it is one of the most delicious fish there is to eat." There are instructions and photos in the book showing how to de-bone a shad. After anchoring, we started fishing and after a few minutes Mrs. Waterfish caught the first shad. Soon, "son of Waterfish" caught one, and before long I caught one too. We caught about 10 or 12, and released all but two. We were very impressed about how much these fish fought, and some of them must have gone 5 or six pounds. Pretty fun on the light trout tackle we were using. When we got home, we scaled the two shad, and attempted to de-bone them. Not easy! We fried them up in some batter and sat down for dinner. Even with taking out the major bones, there were still many long, skinny bones. Dozens of them in fact. The meat was pretty good, but what a hassel to pick out all the bones for each bite. After a few bites, "son of Waterfish" gave up and put a frozen pizza in the microwave for his dinner. Teenagers don't have much patience when they're hungry! We agreed that shad was good, but no better than other white meated fish like crappie or bass that are much easier to clean and eat. I don't think we will try this again, but I wouldn't rule out trying the roe. I've heard on the east coast it is quite popular. Anyone else eat shad, or have any good ways to prepare it for the table? We eat that other bait called smelt too...

 

[ZaQ]

My stomach is starting to hurt........

 

[Small Fry]

I don't know how many time I need to tell you guy's

DON'T EAT THE BAIT

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">:wink:

 

[Uglygreen]

Check your scale dude!... I think the state record shad is only 5.1 lbs, so you mighta released a record! :wink:

UG

 

[garyk]

Waterfish - did you notice, perchance, that in Lenox Dick's book which you refer to, the chapter "Favorite Shad Recipes" was all of 1 and 2/3 pages - with very open spacing? :grin:

 

[5-Cents]

Dont kid yourself shad taste great... when they turn into dungeness crabs :grin: :grin: :grin:

:cheers:

[ 06-11-2003, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: 5-Cents ]

 

[ampersat]

boy, it's times like these that i'm glad people don't search the archives. i haven't heard of anyone who has had a pleasant shad eating experience. you guys crack me up! :laugh:

 

[Mrdorkfish]

Ok..i'll have to admit i've tried it...after talking to another Ifish member i thought i'd give it a try..Waterfish you ain't fibb'n..lots of bones :shocked: But there are parts that have less bones and if you get a bite without them it is quite tasty :smile: yes it is bait and so is Smelt...but if you actually know how to cook you'd be suprised what you can make taste good. Since i do prepare food for a living..(18yrs) working under a Chef in an institutional setting i can say :tongue: bite me :grin: Like i always say to my wee one...how can you say you don't like something till you try it :shrug:

MrDorkfish

Louis

 

[Waterfish]

OK Uglygreen, I didn't weigh any of them, but they were bigger than I expected. Other boats around us were catching big ones too, so I'm sure I didn't break any state records. But one thing I'm not exaggerating about was the number of bones!

 

[BrionLutz]

Waterfish,

Having lived in the Shad Capitol of the World and having attended the annual Shad Festival for several years, I found shad to be fairly tasteless, but edible fish.

The key was what kind of seasoning you cooked it in.

I liked the Bay Seasoning, similar to that used on crabs.

However, having said that, I don't go looking for Shad to eat <grin>.

Brion

 

[Fish-n-Fever]

State record shad....

Shad 5 lbs 13 oz 1994 Columbia River Patricia Ann Young

got that off of THIS SITE

I looked this up the year before last when I caught one that was #5 4oz from the bank at Clackamette park.

Jon :smile: :grin: :smile:

 

[fish_on]

I weighed on out last year at 6.5lbs I thought it was big but.... I bet there have been lots of record breakers caught and not recorded.

 

[Buckshot_]

:hoboy: :hoboy: Shad is the only fish in my time, that i get fish poison from. It's fun to catch them but will leave the eating of said fish to some more adventurous souls.
great bait for crab,and oversize gators.
Just my two cents
T.W. :smile:

 

[Bait O Eggs]

I believe holding the state record for shad wouldnt be to hard. I doubt many people know the record is less than 6 lbs and I have seen some mighty big shad. I got a big one tonight, and put it on the digital scales and it weighed 5.5 lbs when I got home. :depressed: If it would have gone 6 on my scales I would have been headed to find a certified scale.

 

[WaterDog]

I love pickled shad. :grin: Great on crackers. Wife and I have a batch in the fridge right now. I don't care for it baked or pressure cooked only because I like many other fish and usually have plenty of other fish in the freezer. It is editble however.

Mr. Dorkfish, I couldn't agree more. :smile:

 

[nrcamo]

tried pressure cooking them one time and making a sandwhich, made it into the second one and gave up.

 

[SailCat]

A couple of years ago, I received two cans of smoked shad. One of them remains unopened.

While the roe is considered a delicacy by some, I'm fairly certain I'll never know ....

~MT
The Guide's Forecast

 

[greenbuttskunk]

personally, I'd rather eat an old gym sock. Like others have said, I like the eat them after they've been converted to crab meat. :smile:

 

[letsfish]

Caught a big one yesterday.welll over 5 and maybe 6lbs. I am a poor judge of weight.
But state records are only a certified weight.Who bothers to weigh their catch on a certifiable scale? Only a few.
For instance...I have a friend who use to do well on chum. He once decided to keep a couple of fish, together they weighed 50lbs on his home scale.That means he had a couple of record breakers(at least at that time). He didn't know, but he did smoke them up.