The sun., 1916-11-26
COMMON SHAD Will
TAKE FLY AND WORM
Will New Game Fish BE Added
to American Anglers
List?
VIEWS OF FISHERMEN
~ ALEXANDER Med. sroDDARr.

~ ALEXANDER Med. sTODDART.
SMIrHrowN. l.. l.. Nov. 25.-Anglere
have been discussing OF late the ques-
tion OF a new game fish being added to
the game Ash Of America. The new
game nsh is the shad. which In the
spring Of the year run up the rivers
emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. AZ.
ter the sfad deposit their spawn 1t la,
been definitely ascertained that they viii,
strike at flies or other small shiny oh.
jects and will also take the worm.
That the latter statement Is true has
been demonstrated BY William l.. Sim
mons OF 100 West Ninetieth street. who
caught a siad In thia manner In the
spring In the N~issequogue River at
Smithtown. That fish put up a play FOR
fifteen minute that was as good as any
game 1sh Mr.. Simmons ever landed.
And Il might be remarked MIR. Sim
mons L. familiar with every game fish
that swims on the Atlantic coast. par;ic-
ularly the larger species like the striped
bass and the channel bass. incidentally
Mr.. Simmons was one OF an angling
JURY Va thIVV wiz ~ WV "iu " i'it
davs angling at Bulls Island. $. c..
caught ei5 chanuel bass Weighing from
ak to twelve pounds each. The other
two men were II. c.. Leiding and w. ID
Kershaw, both OF Charleston.
II enough anglers can be induced to
angle for the shad perhaps this Ameri.
can hsh will be raised to the high rank
set by the black bass.
When the black bass was first intro
duced In the Delaware (now a splen-
did black bass stream) by means OF n
tried for these fish in vain. They used
WORMS n dough and other primitive
lures. but without success. They SAID The
hardest kind OF things about the blacf
bass. adding a kick by saying that eli
devoured such high class game FISH rs
the club"
At last a light broke in. at first a ray
then n beam n then a flood. II was
discovered that the black bass loved q
mlnnow. and a live n at that.
shad Dates for Next Spring.
The placing Of the shad on the list OF
game fishes OF America would mean that
practically all along the coaN anglers
would have m opportunity to try FOL
this fish in the spring Of the year before
ttbO IA NottiC ~ Nv ia
The following summary shows for the
principal water areas OF the Atlantic
coast the approximate dates at which
such shad fishing can he had next
spring:
81. Johns River. December :: A!tamaha
River. January 10: Oseechee River. Ianu-
AIRY 4: Savannah River. January {; Edisto
River. January :: sant"" River. January
q; winyah Bay, January u; Cape. Fear
Rive. January 81; Pamliro Sound Feh-u-
ary Mouse River. February - palnllgp
River. February 6. A!bemarle Sound. Feb
ruary 4; Roanoke River. March -: Cho-
i T." H END. F Es,Sn IS: "F ia%s. niScr.
March 6: Chlckshominy River March 10:
Rappahannock River. March Is Potomac
-: Choptank River, March -: susIue-
ham. River. April =: Delaware Bay.
YORK Say. March %: Hudson River. April
cut River. April. IL: .N~arraeansett Bay.
April =; ca,co Bay. April IS; kenneeee
shad by the last OF May reach the
Mlramichi River In New brunswick.
Tarpon Member Of shad Family.
The shad which took Mr.. Simmons's
hook was the common shad. or Amer
Lean shad. called also Delaware shad.
North River shad. Connecticut River
shad. they receiving their names from
the river they ascend. Upon the purity
OF the water depends the delicacy of
their flesh. which Is the reason for call
ing the nsh for various rivers.
Simmons makes II n point that the
had which took his AZ and worm In the
NisseQuogue River Is not the hickory
ehad or tailor herring. not the alcwlfe or
branch herring. both of which fishes have
been known previously to take the hook
Of the angler.
1t might be remarked that the tar
pom. one of the gamest OF game nsh. Ia
n member Of the shad family. and II
the common shad a be induced to get
the habit OF fghting for the anglers bait
II may mean game fishing within fifteen
minutes OF Times Square.
Anglers have noticed at odd times that
1t dams OH various rivers they have had
strikes from shad. One angler who has
landed shad with a ny just below the
dam At III head Of the Connecticut River
at Holyoke. Mass. is Robert Lyman. one
Of the editors Of the New York World.
Mr.. Lyman got his shad on a small
white ny. locally known as the shad rs
and moro generally called the May ny.
Harold G. Stevens OF THE SUN Build
ing. who spends his week ends at Smith
town during the summer. succeeded In
taking a shad on a ny on June 23 In
the Nissequogue River.
vspious Tactics Used by Fish.
Mr.. Simmons ono evening abou,
disk tried various kinds OF flies
without result. and again the mex,
anorning. but failed TO get a rise
That afternoon he tried a worm,
and finally got a strike. and the
line shot Off with a rush. Mr.. Simmons
compares his strike to that OF a blow like
that OF a sledse hammer. The nah kept
we'll down In the swiftly running water
and finally rose to the surface. 1t re-
quired fifteen minutes before the LANDING
net could be passed under Il.
The shad did not take II by accident
said Mr.. Simmons yesterday. FOR tn,
nsh had swallowed the bait and the hook
was n ita outlet"
Mr.. Simmons cast again and again and
had several slight strikes within the mex
fifteen minutes. Then he got a res
strike. and as soon as the hook was se'
this shad used different tactics. Unlik,
the first fish. that kept well down. prefer
ably In the swift running water. the sec,
ond shad came at once to the surfac,
and leaped out OF the water. Mr.. Sim
mons compares the leap to that OF IN,
black bars and say that the distanc,
was about " to three feet. This hsl
ressmbled h nrst n In tn hghtini
tactics In that II kept to tho swiftly run
ming water. That fish required also M
teen minutes to land.
On the following afternoon Mr.. Ste
vsns. using Psrmacchene- Belle. took ar
0thsr sAad.
Charles Bradford, editor Of the A ne,t
can Angler. y that eleven years age
! In the spring OF the year. In the upps