American shad encore; State stocks fry in Kennebec
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
AUGUSTA — Early settlers ate them, striped bass like them and fishermen say they taste good, too.
A collection of shad are seen on a measuring block that Department of Marine Resources biologist Nate Gray used to measure the fish.
click to enlarge
In a year or more, state officials hope there will be plenty of American shad in the Kennebec River and its tributaries to satisfy the palates of fish and humans alike.
In recent weeks, the Maine Department of Marine Resources stocked a record 7.4 million American shad fry — think 10-14 days old — into the Kennebec River system.
Odds are only one in 400 will survive to adulthood, said Gail Wippelhauser, a marine resources scientist.
The Kennebec once teemed with shad, but the silver fish with a hint of pink all but disappeared when dams and pollution took their toll.
"It's important to restore them," said Laura Rose Day, watershed project director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. "They are a key part of the native fishery on the Kennebec.
The department started stocking shad in the Kennebec and its tributaries in 1987. Back then, they put adult shad up river but later learned that shad released early in life will think of the river as their birthplace and return to it to spawn, Wippelhauser said.
The shad fry spend several weeks in the river and make their way to the ocean to grow into adulthood, she said. After about five years, they come back to the river to spawn.
Maine Guide Jim Thibodeau of Waterville said he's caught about 10 shad this season as they head to their spawning grounds. The fish are so busy looking for a mate they don't eat and they will run right into a fly fisherman standing in the water, he said.
"They jump and they run," he said. "They are fun to catch."
When they are first released from the state hatchery in Waldoboro, they may be only 1-2 inches long. Thibodeau said the adults he's been seeing are 20-22 inches in length.
Some grow up to 30 inches long and can weigh 9 pounds, according to marine resources.
Shad are somewhat difficult to catch because they aren't looking for a meal and they have a "paper-thin mouth," Thibodeau said. He said small jigs or small flies are the best way to go.
The Waterville/Winslow area near the Fort Halifax Dam is a good place to snag a shad, he said. He also recommended dropping a line just above the Sidney boat landing.
"It looks like a torpedo going through the water," he said.
Mike Holt, owner of Fly Fishing Only in Fairfield, said he expects next year to be the first big year for shad now that Edwards Dam in Augusta has been gone for about five years. Not many people who come into his shop are talking about shad yet.
"There are some in the river now, but not as many as we'd like," he said.
Dams on the river disrupted the shad habitat, as did pollution. The removal of Edwards Dam and efforts to return the river to a healthier state have paid off for many species, Wippelhauser said.
"They've been gone for so long I think many people have forgotten about them," she said.
Shad, which is a close relative of the alewife, is one of 10 native sea-run fish species in Maine.
Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee writes about his love of shad in his 2002 book "The Founding Fish." He describes them as an integral part of American life in the 17th and 18th centuries and said George Washington was a commercial shad fisherman.
Included with his first-hand description of the fall of Edwards Dam are some recipes for cooking shad.
Other cities and towns along the East Coast celebrate shad with festivals, complete with shad queens, said Naomi Schalit, executive director of Augusta-based Maine Rivers.
She described them as "exquisite" to eat and said they are an important part of the restoration of the Kennebec. Removing Edwards Dam had an immediate impact on the river.
"It's a shadow of what it once was, but it has really come back biologically," Schalit said.
Susan M. Cover — 623-1056
scover@centralmaine.com