Shad Fishing at Bonneville

[bearpaw]

I've wanted to try shad fishing for several years, one of our regular turkey hunters does it every year, he smokes them and cans them, he gave us a jar of fish to try and some shad darts to get us started fishing. We liked the smoked/canned fish so three of us decided to go shad fishing earlier this week. Prior to going I read about shad fishing and watched a few youtube videos which all really helped us to understand how to start fishing for them.

I wasn't sure if we would do any good but some people say you can catch a boatload and that they will hit almost anything when they are hitting, so we went prepared for anything with a small freezer in the back of the truck, several sizes of fishing poles, and various tackle to try.

My first cast I hooked a fish but lost it next to the bank. Went a while before hooking another, it seemed like I needed to let my rigging go deep for the best action, I only landed one fish of the first nine I hooked. I decided I needed to iighten my drag and not horse them in, that seemed to work better, I started landing more fish, probably about fifty/fifty or two out of three I landed after taking it easy on them. We fished most of the day, we caught fish at times and had several dry spells for an hour or so at a time. The shad are good fighters, we had a lot of fun landing them.

A guy that spoke english (most people there were talking in different languages) said it was really slow, he said the day before he was hooking a fish for about every minute of fishing time. We ended up catching 11, 11, and 14, so 36 fish for three guys fishing most of the day. It was good action at times and enough fish to have fun and consider it a successful trip. I saw a couple other people that caught quite a few more than we did, but most people caught less than we did. I guess it was just an off day for catching.

I cleaned all my fish before leaving, I put the fish guts and filleted skeletons in a bucket, I wasn't sure if I could throw them back in the river there or not? It was nice to get home with frozen fish (in the mostly empty freezer, lol).

I filleted 7 fish for smoking and canning, the fish I filleted I removed the skin and dark meat off the sides of the fish, figured it might be strong tasting like the dark meat on tuna. I left 4 fish whole and only removed heads guts and fins, I want to try deep frying a fish and smoking/canning one in larger chunks, I would like to try some other recipes with a couple of the fish. If someone has any good recipes to offer I would sure like to try a few variations and find what tastes best.

The smoked/canned fish I had before was very good. I'll try to remember to comment about how the fish tastes after trying a few different ways of cooking them.

If we go fishing for them again I think I will take a boat, sitting and standing on those rocks on the bank all day was very uncomfortable. Everyone was bank fishing so maybe boats are not allowed to fish for shad below the dam? Does anyone know?

Are there better places to fish for shad with a boat?

Added a couple photos, myself holding up a fish, and buddies Ray holding a fish and Mike reeling one in.

[JJB11B]

we catch them for bait. great thing to take kids to fish for.

[Sandberm]

If anybody has a brine recipe for smoking, let us know. Any special prep work you do to remove bad tasting parts etc.

5, 6 years ago when there was a big run i went fishing for them and had a blast, caught lots and was very impressed with the fight they put up. At times there was a hit on every cast. I cooked up one and thought it tasted fine, then the next trip i brought a few home and cooked em up...tasted terrible, like dirt.

And yes, i was the only white guy fishing for them. The bank was lined with who i thought were SE Asians, Laotians , Vietnamese I was guessing.

[bearpaw]

My friend that got me started said they (4 guys) caught 200 fish the last time he went a couple weeks ago. I messaged him asking for his canning recipe.

[Smokeploe]

Bearpaw
Your thinking about cleaning is right, nice clean white meat.  Brine in favorite mix.  Smoke then pressure cook can them with good olive oil, 2tablespoons.  That will soften cook what bones are left in.  If you like kippered heriring, this is the way to go.  After a month of curing in the can open fry the filets and butter the scramble eggs after——killer

Smokeploe

[PointBlank]

They make excellent lingcod and halibut bait! Fished ilwaco last weekend and spanked them tipping our gear with bloody shad

[Jolten]

Gotta watch the fish counts at the damn. When the fish counts at the peak it's pretty awesome how fast you get hooked.

[metlhead]

I keep 3 or 4 every year, grind them up and mix with Pro Cure bloody tuna. That goes into a bunch of 2oz plastic jars. One jar will pack superbaits all day and salmon love it.

[h2ofowlr]

I enjoy chasing them.  Good fighters and I user them for crab, lings and halibut.

[carpsniperg2]

Little dicknite spoons also slay them. More expensive to lose fishing from shore. If you are on a boat they would be great!

If you bomb up this way again let me know and I will hook you up with some enhanced shad darts I tie up.

[LongBomb]

Ive only been below the john day dam. Not sure how it compares fishing wise but on the washington side theres plenty of beach to fish from instead of the rocks.

[PointBlank]

I keep 3 or 4 every year, grind them up and mix with Pro Cure bloody tuna. That goes into a bunch of 2oz plastic jars. One jar will pack superbaits all day and salmon love it.

I will have to give that a try sounds interesting…

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Fished with Carp and brought a bunch home and canned. Just followed Bety Crocker canning fish and only adding teaspoon of sea salt. When you open the can its only a mild smell and the shad is fantastic. Very mild taste.  Both kiddos love it. Wife won't touch it with the thought of a shad?  Makes great dip with crackers and sandwiche spread. Definitely on over looked resource for table fair.

[pd]

Yikes.  I can't imagine sitting on those rocks for 10 minutes, let alone an entire day.  Next time, bring a lawn chair!

It looks like fun.

[bearpaw]

Ive only been below the john day dam. Not sure how it compares fishing wise but on the washington side theres plenty of beach to fish from instead of the rocks.

Great information, thanks

[bearpaw]

Yikes.  I can't imagine sitting on those rocks for 10 minutes, let alone an entire day.  Next time, bring a lawn chair!

It looks like fun.

My friend Mike is fairly disabled, he can't stand straight up, has to walk with a cane, it was hard for him to walk down there, about killed him sitting. Ray stacked the rocks so there was a big flat rock for him to sit, but it was still brutal. Ray and I swapped between standing and sitting now and then, that was even hard. We had lawn chairs in the truck but the big rocks and steepness of bank didn't seem like a chance to take.

The shad are fun to catch, I ended up putting away my heavier pole and used a lighter spinning rod and that really enhanced catching them.

[haftard]

One thing I have found to help my catch rate is leaning to tie knots fast or have a knot tier(the wife) and an extra rod. Light leaders help alot too. I like running a 6# leader. Fun stuff really want to try them from a boat but not enough hours in the day and not enough money in the bank

[Alchase]

One thing I have found to help my catch rate is leaning to tie knots fast or have a knot tier(the wife) and an extra rod. Light leaders help alot too. I like running a 6# leader. Fun stuff really want to try them from a boat but not enough hours in the day and not enough money in the bank

I have never fished for Chad, but I do tie a ton of leaders the night before I go fishing. I Use Pool Noodles cut to 6" - 8" and wrap the premade leaders with hooks/lures/jigs and a snap swivel around the noodle. When needed, just unclasp the old one and clip on a new one.
I have a couple I bought, but the pool noodles cost very little, and one noodle can make a lot of rig holders.

[Gringo31]

Dicknites close to bottom (I use downrigger) or darts behind a diver.

Only thing worth feeding them to is sturgeon or crab IMO but can't say I've tried them.

[pianoman9701]

Damn, Dale. If you come this close to Vancouver again, please let me know.

[bearpaw]

Damn, Dale. If you come this close to Vancouver again, please let me know.

Yeah that would be nice to meet you! 

[bearpaw]

Mike smoked his fish and canned it, he used the recipe that my friend advised, Mike said his fish turned out great and is delicious, he really likes it. I haven't had time to do the smoking and canning yet, my shad is still frozen.

This is the recipe and methods Mike used:



Scale the fish
Fillet the fish, leave skin on
Place in brine for 16 hours

Brine
1 gallon water
1/2 to 1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Kosher or Sea Salt
1/4 cup Soy Sauce

Smoke for 1 to 1.5 hours
After smoking the skin will pull right off then pack the fish in jars to can.
Add any desired seasonings
Cook in pressure canner at 10 psi for 70 to 100 minutes

Possible Seasonings to add (Mike added a Jalapeno to each jar):
Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Hot Sauce
Jalapenos
Pepper Slice
Onion Slice


I really like sardines in mustard, so when I can my shad I want to pack one jar in mustard and see how that turns out.

[Jake Dogfish]

Sounds tasty!  I’ve always wanted to try Shad. 

[ASHQUACK]

Not sure if anyone responded to the boat question,  so I will. Yes you can fish them below bonneville from a boat, lots of guys do. We launch at a place called "The Fishery" Oregon side or Beacon Rock State Park, Wa side. Either is a short run to the best shad fishing. Plan on anchor fishing next to about a hundred of your soon to he closest friends. Anchoring can get interesting with all the boats but it's still a fun day on the river and we usually stop at a hundred or so.fish.

[DeerThug]

I go get a mess of them every year.  Best time is the last weekend of June.  I go just below the dam.  What I have learned is that the bite is on from sun up till about 9.  Then it really dies off.  I run 10lb line, 3- 1/8 oz barrel sinkers behind a red bead then a swivel.  4' of leader and a red shad killer.  If I am not hooking up every  two or three casts or so - something is wrong.   I do run the drag pretty light and dont loose too many of them.

 I fillet them right on the bank and toss the scraps in the water - It only takes like one fish and there are so many seagulls that show up.  Generally the pelicans come too and occasionally a blue hereon.  Within minutes it is all cleaned up.

I can and smoke them.  Thing is they have that extra set or ribs or skeleton - what ever you want to call it.  They are good battered and fried if you can get the bones out.

It is a trip i look forward to every year.

[bearpaw]

Finally had time to take my shad out of the freezer and marinade and smoke it. It has to be some of the best tasting smoked fish I’ve ever had, wished I could just eat it all as is, but I’ve also never seen such bony fish, so I’m packing in pint jars to can it. I’ll make another post after cooking.

[packmule]

https://honest-food.net/how-to-cook-shad/

[Gringo31]

I applaud your efforts.  The bones no matter what you do, still seem to be a problem. 

[bearpaw]

As it turned out my first batch of fish had 16 hours in brine and a very heavy 2 hour smoke. The second batch only got 2 hours in brine and a mild 1.5 hour smoke. Both batches I canned identically for 90 minutes after reaching 10 psi. I experimented with leaving the spine in one fish and leaving the dark meat on one fish. The dark meat causes more fishy taste and I didn't like having the spine in the fish, you can eat it just fine, I just prefer the fish without the spine. Any of the rib bones or other many bones are negligible, you don't even notice them when eating the canned fish.

I am extremely surprised this shad turned out so good, better than I expected, the heavy smoke is fantastic, I like a strong smoke flavor and this is excellent. The mild smoked fish is also very good, and anyone who likes a very mild smoke would probably like it better, the mild is quite similar to kippered snacks that you buy in the store. I love sardines in mustard and wanted to try packing one pint with mustard but was in a hurry to finish and ended up not doing it. Next year I will try that when I hopefully have more fish.

I am going to plan an overnight trip next year with a goal of 50 to 100 fish to can up multiple ways. The recipe I used was from a friend that found it on youtube, it actually called for 1 gallon of water, but because I like a stronger brine I opted to cut the water in half and use the full amount of other ingredients. Here's the process and recipe I used:

PROCESS
 - Scale Fish
 - Fillet fish to remove spine  (leave the skin on, it comes off much easier after smoking)
 - Place in brine for up to 16 hours
 - Smoke for 1 to 2 hours  (I used Alder chips)
 - After smoking remove skin from fillets
 - Remove the dark meat strip from each fillet
 - Pack into jars for canning
 - Add any desired seasonings 
 - Put lid and ring on jars
 - Cook in pressure canner for 90 minutes after reaching 10 psi

BRINE
 - Water: 1/2 to 1 gallon
 - Brown Sugar: 1 cup
 - Kosher Salt: 1/2 cup
 - Soy Sauce: 1/4 cup

POSSIBLE SEASONINGS
 - Salt
 - Garlic (powder or cloves)
 - Onion (powder or slices)
 - Hot Sauce
 - Jalapeno
 - Green or Red Pepper

(I didn't use any seasonings, I put as much fish as I could fit in each jar and added about 1 teaspoon oil and I added water up to 1" from the top of each jar so the heavier smoked fish which had dried quite a bit would be moister, it worked great on the drier heavily smoked fish)

In the photo the darker colored meat has the heavy smoke, the lighter meat has the lighter smoke.

[bearpaw]

I tried a quicker way to prepare some of the shad, I took one fish and sliced almost halfway into it every half inch on each side, then I rubbed about 1 teaspoon liquid smoke into the cuts on each side of the fish, next I sprinkled lemon pepper and johnny's season salt on each side and rubbed that into the cuts. Next I put the fish in an insta pot pressure cooker for 90 minutes on the stove. That turned out ok, the bones were mostly unnoticeable but the fish didn't taste as good as the smoked and canned fish. It was similar to kippered snacks but not as good as the lightly smoked fish that I canned that was a lot like kippered snacks.

I want to try this method again next year with some other seasonings to see if I can find a little tastier recipe for cooking the fresh fish in the insta pot.

[Jake Dogfish]

Looks Good! 
I want to try pickling them sometime.

[bearpaw]

Looks Good! 
I want to try pickling them sometime.

I would be interested to know how the pickling turns out?
I'm going to try the same recipe on some trout, salmon, or other fish sometime when I have enough to make it worth the effort.