hickory shad – Syndication Server

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.

“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.

A Georgia angler who went fishing for crappie recently on the Ogeechee River ended up breaking a 25-year-old state record for hickory shad.

Christian Blake Jones of Swaisboro landed the 2-pound, 3-ounce hickory shad to erase a record (1 pound, 15 ounces) set in 1995.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced the record Tuesday via Facebook and in a news release, without quoting the angler.

“A day of fishing is good, but you know what makes it even better? A day you catch a new state record!” the GDNR’ Wildlife Resources Division exclaimed in the news release.

While 2 pounds, 3 ounces might not seem impressive, it’s an absolute whopper by hickory shad standards, and falls just 11 ounces shy of the all-tackle world record (2 pounds, 14 ounces) set in Florida in 2008.

https://www.facebook.com/WildlifeResourcesDivisionGADNR/posts/10157839263233388

Although hickory shad are not considered a glamour species, they put up a mighty struggle on light-tackle fishing gear.

States the International Game Fish Assn.: “Don’t let the species name fool you; there is nothing mediocre about the sporting qualities of this small herring. Hickory shad, like their larger cousins the American shad, are spirited fighters on light tackle, and can be fooled by small jigs and flies.’

Hickory shad are anadromous and spend most of their lives along the western Atlantic coast, from Maine to the St. Johns River in Florida. But they can be found in rivers during the spawning season.

Georgia’s spawning season runs from January to about May, depending on the region.

–Image showing Christian Blake Jones with his record hickory shad is courtesy of the Georgia Department of Resources

Tag: hickory shad

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