Fly Fishing Virginia’s Shad Run

Nothing lights up online fly fishing message boards, fills up email inboxes or piles up strings of texts of Old Dominion river anglers more than the arrival of shad from the Atlantic Ocean to local rivers on their annual spring spawning run.

Indeed, the posted picture of that first hickory or American shad catch of the season brings the lucky angler near rock-star status, accompanied by endless online thumbs-up, fist pumps and high fives.

Yes, it’s that big of a deal.

The shad run often starts around the beginning of calendar spring, marking the official end of dark and dreary winter. More importantly, it signals the unofficial beginning of the fishing high season in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As a Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) fisheries biologist once put it to me: “Fishing for shad in Virginia is a rite of spring.” I like that sentiment—and right up there with spring turkey season for the hunter—I couldn’t agree more.

And some may not be aware that shad have a storied history here in Virginia. For instance, the legendary large runs of this migratory fish were an important source of sustenance for Native Americans and the first settlers.

Though accounts differ, some claim George Washington was a big shad fan, too.

Unfortunately, the story about the shad run saving the Continental Army at Valley Forge from starvation in the winter of 1777-1778 is probably apocryphal. But, despite this, many anglers still affectionately refer to shad as the “founding fish.” (See John McPhee’s book, The Founding Fish, for an interesting take on the shad’s role in American history and culture.)

Fly anglers usually throw their shad back, but harvesting Atlantic Coast shad for the table was at one time quite popular—and a big commercial activity. Some fishers still chase these feisty fish for their roe—which some folks swear by as not only tasty, but rich in vitamins.

While both shad species are fun to fish for, hickories and Americans differ in fundamental ways.

The hickory (or silver) shad is affectionately known as the “poor man’s tarpon.” With its superior (or upturned) mouth and protruding lower jaw, it looks a lot like the saltwater fish of Florida fame. As fish from the salt, hard-swimming shad will put a serious bend in your fly rod, but hickories are also well known for their aerial acrobatics once hooked—once again like those gravity-defying, tail-walking tarpon.

The American (or white shad) are identified by a symmetrical (or terminal) mouth with equal upper and lower jaws, and have more of a football shape to them. At their biggest, Americans run 20 inches to 22 inches, while hickories go a bit smaller at about 15 inches to 18 inches, according to DWR.

While it naturally varies a tad due to weather, the shad run in Virginia rivers usually peaks about mid-April, but will run into May.

Two of the top waters for shad in the Commonwealth of Virginia are the Rappahannock and James Rivers. Angling for this sport fish in these Chesapeake drainages can be done from the shore, while wading, or from watercraft, depending on the location.

But don’t overlook the more southerly, less-pressured Nottoway and Blackwater Rivers. These Albemarle Sound drainage rivers are not wadable and have limited shore fishing, so the shad fishing is best done from watercraft. The Potomac River to the North in District of Columbia waters is also an iconic shad fishery.