Shad fishing — a 19th century sign of spring

Glens Falls residents looking for signs of spring in 1884 watched the skies for sighting of the first robin and watched the morning headlines for news of the start of shad fishing in the lower Hudson.

The first robin was spotted on March 24, and word of the start of shad fishing came a day later.

“Fisherman are putting down shad poles in the lower Hudson and our markets will soon be supplied with some of the first run,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported.

This was nearly two weeks earlier that the start of shad fishing the previous year.

The first shad of the 1884 season was available for sale in Glens Falls on March 27, but it was pricey.

“They are a luxury at present.”

Prices, based on supply and demand, were expected to come down before the end of the season in mid-June.

“Lovers of shad, who cannot partake now because of the altitudinous price of those in market, will be pleased to learn that fishermen predict an unusually large supply this season,” The Morning Star reported on March 31.

The toothless American shad was a favorite freshwater fish found along the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland to Florida.

Removing of its four rows of curved bones was an art.

Failure to debone one property could frustrate a connoisseur, as evidenced by a rhyming ditty The Morning Star published July 7, 1883.

“No matter how glad man may be, he is sad and angry and mad when the bone of the shad makes him wish he had ordered liver instead.”

On April 14, 1883 shad was selling in Glens Falls at 40 to 50 cents each — the equivalent of $10.29 to $12.87 in 2020 dollars — considered to be a lower price than typical for early season supply.

“This moderate rate for early specimens indicates that this favorite and deliscious fish will later on drop to figures enabling editors to try that flavor,” The Morning Post quipped.

On April 20, 1883, shad were selling in Glens Falls for 35 cents to 65 cents each, compared with 12.5 cents each for bull head and perch.

On April 23, 1884 there was a plentiful supply in Glens Falls at prices of from 30 cents to 45 center per fish.

On May 2, 1884, the price ranged from 25 cent to 35 cents.

During the 1885 season, from early spring to mid-June, commercial fisherman caught nearly 1.2 million shad from the Hudson River, The Morning Star reported Aug. 31, citing state fisheries commissioner E.G. Blackford.

Over fishing eventually nearly wiped out the region’s shad species.

In 2010, the state Department of Environmental Conservation prohibited commercial fishing of shad on the Hudson River.