Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-16

left to natures workings and the increas-
ing consumption of the fish, the species
would soon become extinct. When this I'M
desirable condition was threatened several
years ago the United States fish commission
took hold of the work of Matching shad and
stocking the rivers annually with millions
Of the young fish of an age to shift for
themselves. In prosecuting this work the
roe shad are caught by fishermen in nets
and delivered 10 the Matching stations in
live boxes" The roe is removed by eX-
perts and the parent fish are then a mar
ketable commodity at low price. The eggs
are Matched in the quiet of a specially con-
structed laboratory, and fed until large
enough and strong enough to shift for
themselves in the struggle for existence
These little fish are liberated near the
head waters of the rivers proposed to be
stocked. They attain mature growth in
three years and return to spawn as those
naturally Matched. Notwithstanding the
enormous consumption of shad, artificial
Matching has resulted in q large increase
of shad in all the rivers formerly it's rem
devious; besides, this fish has been trans
planted TO other streams and now regu-
larry returns thither in spring and early
summer.
Catching With a Fly.
Time was when a shad was regarded as a
fish that could be taken only with the net,
and therefore unworthy of the attention of
the sportsman. In fact. for commercial
pa !'oSSo tIC Slif'ti Only III ltlS VI
by the reprehensible practice of snaggng.
AS late as 1860 no angler ever dropped a
line for them and who first found that the
shad would take a large gaudy fly readily
is not revealed.
The fly fisher will find much sport fishing
for shad during it's upward run this spring,
with a powerful trout rod, long line and
a big fly. The Potomac, the Delaware the
Hudson the Connecticut and the Merrimac
rivers offer the most glorious sport with the
fnF4- trio ion, In, fI,a Do Oh,
the little falls and in the southern tribu-
taries the season opens the LIST of May.
In the Taunton and Merrimac rivers the
season opens earlier and lasts longer.
When shad are plentiful fish of large size
are caught often weighing nine pounds
apiece. When sportsman gets one of
these big fellows on his hook then look out
for sport! The shad in some cases shows
almost the game qualities of the salmon.
1t requires a smart hand at the tackle and
a quick wrist at the oars in order to follow
his leaps, dashes, twists and tumblings.
The First Matched Shad.
In 1874 commission appointed by Con-
gress set free the Matched shad in different
parts of the United States. Previously to
that experiments in a small way had been
carried on in the narrows of the Chesapeake
bay. The eggs and milt in the spawning
season, which varies according TO the tenn
perature of the water, hardly meet before
the young fish are seen swimming in the
cans where the Matching takes place. They
enough to transport them to the places
where they are deposited in the rivers
The shad no sooner find themselves free
than they Immediately start on their jour
ney to the sea and do not return until three
years have passed. Then they are adult
fish and ready for spawning, and some mys-
terious instinct guides them back to the
very river and place where they were set
free II is this longing
persisted in against almost insurmountable
obstacles which fills the tables of Washing
ton with this toothsome food fish and az
fords anglers on the Potomac and other
rivers so much sport in the springtime.
Consumption of Shad
shad for consumption in Washington are
brought by fishermen to the fish wharf
at the foot of 18th street. Here seven or
eight commission houses handle the output
and distribute the fish to the trade. Those
In position to know say Washington is
the greatest market for shad of any city of
its size in the United States. An inyestiga-
ton of the facts among the fish merchants
led to the accumulation of interesting data.
1t was learned that the fishermen begin to
come up the Potomac with cargoes from
the south by the middle of March, the
trade growing brisker into and through the
month of May. BY the middle of April
there is usually a surplus of fish and the
merchants begin to lay down picked shad
in the warehouses. The first shipments
come from Florida and the Carolinas, then
fl ON Norfolk and later from the Virginia
rivers and the Potomac. Few shad are
brought to Washington from the north, the
supply, as indicated, being usually suffi-
cient.
An appeal to the sales books of two COM
mission merchants and their estimates
showed that about 400 tons of shad are con-
sumed in Washington each season. Calling
the ton 2,200 pounds, the consumption
amounts to $4,000 pounds. The average
weight of shad in a boat load may be put
at five pounds. This makes total of 17G-
600 fish sold through the commission houses
1t is estimated that at least one-third of
this number should be added to cover the
amount taken by fishermen who do not
operate through the trade. This brings the
grand total up to 234, 600 shad eaten in
Washington every year.
Only confusing sense of lafgeness is
conveyed to the mind in reading these fig
ures. Allowing eighteen inches 10 each fish,
the number swimming in single line
would reach more than sixty-six miles down