Extreme flooding event unlikely to greatly affect shad run

The annual spawning run of shad up rivers along the Southeast coast has commenced, and there is one potential complication in the equation in South Carolina’s rivers.

The question is will the current long stretch of high water on the rivers that started nearly four months ago with the extreme flooding event of Oct. 1-5, 2015 have any effect on the shad run in South Carolina’s rivers?

Chad Holbrook, Diadromous Fishes Assistant Coordinator for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, thinks any impact would be minimal.

“The shad run is just beginning so any impacts from the October 2015 flood would be hard to detect yet,” he said. “However, I would not expect the flood to impact the shad runs in the rivers (in Horry and Georgetown counties). Shad are strong swimming fish that have evolved to deal with a wide range of river flows. River flows are currently above average but they are not above levels that have been seen over the previous 10 years.”

In Holbrook’s estimation, a flood event would have to occur in the peak of the shad run to have any impact, and the impact would not be immediately known.

“For a flood event to have a major impact on shad, I believe it would have to occur during the peak spawning period for shad, March through early May,” Holbrook said. “The impact would not necessarily be on the adult fish returning to spawn, but more likely on their offspring that would be flushed down the river when they are young, small, and unable to swim against the current.

“As a result the impact from a flood event during the peak of spawning would not be detected until those adults return to spawn, 3-5 years later.”

While the shad run is underway, water temperatures are still cool, in the upper 40s to around 50, and Holbrook says to look for the run to increase with the water temperature in the coming months.

“If water temperatures are colder than normal to start a season then catches may also be below average,” Holbrook said. “However, throughout the course of the season temperatures will rise and catches will increase.”

The majority of shad found in South Carolina waters are American shad, with Hickory shad also present in much smaller numbers.

The shad run has been an anticipated event in late winter and early spring down through the ages along the entire East Coast of the United States. In earlier times, the shad run was depended on for food, with the roe especially prized.

Native Americans have a long history with shad, and the fish were an important, if not critical, food source in colonial times.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Bay Office, the shad run up the Schuylkill River helped save Gen. George Washington’s troops from starvation at Valley Forge, Pa., in the spring of 1778.

In modern times, the same shad have transitioned from being a food source to a sport fish, although plenty of river fishermen still like them for their meat and roe.

While numerous fishermen pursue shad commercially with gill and trammel nets, the quick, wide-bodied fish are great sport on light tackle and have become increasingly popular with recreational anglers.

There are a couple of areas that are very popular spots to catch them by hook-and-line during the annual run – the Tailrace Canal below Lake Moultrie near Moncks Corner and the Rediversion Canal in St. Stephen.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Extreme flooding event unlikely to greatly affect shad run."