Gregg Holshouser Outdoors | Shad begin annual migration

Shad, the Southeast’s migratory version of salmon, are on the move through local estuaries and up rivers as the month of February fast approaches.

Shad are an anadromous species, meaning they spend most of their lives in saltwater before returning to their birth river, so to speak, to spawn in freshwater. Akin to the well-documented upriver runs of salmon, shad make their way back to the same tributary system in which they were hatched to spawn.

A water temperature of about 50 to 55 degrees is considered a good range for the shad run to commence, along with a calendar that reads late January into early February. Jay Booth of Fishermen’s Headquarters in Conway noted a water temperature reading of 54 degrees last Saturday on the Waccamaw River/Intracoastal Waterway at Bucksport, so all the ingredients are there for the shad run to be under way.

The commercial fishing season for American shad in South Carolina opens on some waterways as early as Jan. 1 and can close as late as April 30, but locally in the Winyah Bay and Santee River systems, the season starts Wednesday.

“I’m looking forward to a good shad season,” Booth said. “You’ve got low water in the rivers [so the shad] can’t get in the swamp and they’ll have to stay within the confines of the river.

The water level combined with an optimum water temperature has Booth optimistic for a good season.

“There’s no reason why it can’t be a bumper year. I’m ready for it to start because for me it kind of kicks off the spring.”

Most commercial fishing for shad is done using skimbow nets – a time-honored tradition in coastal plain rivers in the Palmetto State – and there is also a recreational hook-and-line fishery for the species.

“If you catch a 4 to 5 pound shad on light tackle, it’s pretty fun,” Booth said. “Use light tackle with a good spinning reel, 8 to 10 pound test line. You’re gonna lose a lot of fish because their mouth is soft but they fight really hard – they jump like a ladyfish, tarpon or a bass.”

The two hot spots for anglers to catch shad by hook-and-line are on the south end of the Santee-Cooper lakes where the Santee and Cooper rivers flow off Lake Moultrie – at the Rediversion Canal of the Santee outside St. Stephen and below Pinopolis Dam on the headwaters of the Cooper near Moncks Corner.

“It’s getting ready to get hot,” Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown said of the shad fishing in the two areas. “Some people use fly rods, some use 1/32 or 1/16-ounce grubs – a beetle spin-type grub without the spinner. It’s thick boat traffic-wise down there, about like Murrells Inlet during spot season.”

American shad are the predominant species found in S.C. rivers, with just a few Hickory shad in the mix. Most adult shad in rivers in the Southeast die after spawning, but their offspring return to their river of origin to spawn after spending three to five years in marine environments as far north as southern Canada.

Shad are harvested for their meat and roe and are highly regarded in some restaurants along South Carolina’s coastal plain. Since the majority of the shad die after spawning, catfish are lying in wait to gorge themselves in the rivers, meaning shad are also valuable as catfish bait.

Lowcountry Oyster Roast

The first annual Lowcountry Oyster Roast and BBQ Dinner, a cooperative venture of The Beaver Bar and the Waccamaw Chapter of Coastal Conservation Association South Carolina, is set for 4 p.m. Saturday at The Beaver Bar in Murrells Inlet.

The $25 admission for those attending includes local oysters provided by Seven Seas Seafood, BBQ and fixings provided by The Beaver Bar and an open bar (beer and wine). Door prizes will include an original handcrafted Edisto Oyster Knife valued at $250 made by Williams Knife Co.

The event exemplifies the S.C. Oyster Restoration and Enhancement (SCORE) program in action. One of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ oyster shell recycling trailers will be on site for the leftover shell from the oyster roast to be piled on and then returned to a local estuary. Proceeds will benefit CCA SC and in turn the SCORE program.

The annual fundraising banquet for CCA’s Waccamaw Chapter is a separate event and will be held March 30. For more information, contact Chris Hawley at 843-455-0371.