A Georgia angler has reeled a state-record hickory shad from the same river that had produced the previous record.
Timmy Woods of Kite, Ga., was fishing recently on the Ogeechee River when the 2-pound, 10-ounce shad struck. His catch breaks the previous state record, set a year earlier, by four ounces.
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“The Ogeechee River is the place to be if you are targeting record hickory shad,” Scott Robinson, Chief of Fisheries for the Georgia DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division, boasted in a news release. “The great news is that there are amazing angling opportunities all over the state and plenty of fish to catch, but who will hold the next record? Don’t let someone else do it.”
The shad caught by Woods was only four ounces shy of the world record – a 2-pound, 14-ounce hickory shad caught in Florida’s Econlockhatchee River in 2008.
Hickory shad, like American shad, are anadromous and spend most of their lives in the Atlantic Ocean. They return to their natal rivers when it’s time to spawn.
They’re found along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. In Georgia, the spawning season typically lasts from January into May.