Shad fishing has been good at Holyoke Dam. Landed 20+ fish each morning here.
However, the afternoons are much slower, a sign that the run is past peak
and slowing down. I suspect that, by June 1, the run will be mostly over except
for a very slow pick of stragglers.
Moby stripers have corralled big schools of herring at the base of the fish elevator
at the dam and are having a banquet. People fish for them illegally all night
long (ALL fishing in the "sanctuary" area between the Rte 116 bridge and the
dam is prohibited). While
shad fishing, I and some friends saw several guys walk down from the illegal area
to their boat. Two of these so-called fishermen were holding stripers in the high
30-inch to low 40-inch range. Anyway, we called in their boat registration number
and physical description into the Environmental Police via cell phone. Hopefully,
some action was taken.
-bd