Delaware River shad fishing contest opens, with big payday on the line (PHOTOS)

It’s the subtleties that can make the difference between catching no shad and potentially one worth about $20,000 this week in the Easton-Phillipsburg area.

The 14th annual Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest opened Thursday on the Delaware River and runs through Sunday.

This year’s contest drew 1,157 registrants, up about 50 from last year, organizer Eric Fistler said.

They’re vying for the top cash prize estimated at $20,000 that’s part of the top-10 payout, in addition to three daily prizes for the heaviest American shad. The grand prize has held steady in recent years but is down from $25,000 in 2024, due to organizers having to buy the boat that’s also up for grabs after efforts fell short on getting it donated, Fistler explained.

The new 17-foot boat package with Yamaha jet-drive motor and trailer will be raffled off during Monday’s awards ceremony. All participants who registered by Thursday’s deadline at 8 a.m. are in the running.

Fistler also offers bonus prizes for seniors, veterans and women, plus children in two age groups: 11 and under and 12 to 15.

American shad are anadromous, meaning they hatch into fry in freshwater like the Delaware, live into adulthood in the ocean then return to the river of their origin to spawn. The spawning run up the Delaware is well underway, and Thursday’s anglers were bringing in shad in the neighborhood of 5 pounds to the weigh station at the Phillipsburg boat launch.

Fistler updates the contest’s Facebook page each time the leaderboard changes, so participants in the contest know not to keep shad under a certain weight.

With picture-perfect weather overhead, Thursday’s sunshine pushed the river’s temperature over 60 degrees Fahrenheit, Fistler said. That’s about the point shad will start to spawn, rather than hitting anglers’ lures like they do when the water’s in the 50s, he said.

“The shad fishing slowed down a little bit, I think, because it’s too hot,” Fistler said Thursday afternoon at the weigh station. “Earlier this week, they were catching big numbers of shad. Some of the guys still are, but the majority of them aren’t. It’s slowed down for sure.”

Rain forecast for Saturday could push water temperatures back down, to the benefit of anglers.

“Shad fishing is better when it’s like drizzly overcast — not pouring down rain, but a drizzly day is your best, for me personally,” said Fistler, a lifelong Delaware River fisherman who lives in Williams Township.

Anglers in the Delaware River at Easton-Phillipsburg are also catching smallmouth bass, walleye, trout and a few small striped bass, according to Fistler. He lost a lure rig earlier this week when it was bitten off by what he suspects was a muskellunge.

“They’re huge and they have teeth,” he said of muskies. “The biggest one I caught was 35 and a half pounds.”

For shad, it’s all about picking the right color dart or flutter spoon that’ll pique the fish’s interest. The weigh station is stocked with lures and other gear from Rusty Balls Tackle & Guide Service. Another spot close by to pick up gear is Shad Den Bait and Tackle in Easton.

Once outfitted, anglers zero in on just the right spot to fish.

“Last week, me and my brother were out and we were catching them, but it was kind of slow,” Fistler said. “I said, ‘For the water clarity and the temperature, we should be doing better.’ I said, ‘We’re gonna move.’”

Within moments of the move, they were pulling out four or five at a time.

“We only moved over maybe a boat width, we just moved over a little bit, and moved it out towards the middle, got in the current more, and it was on,” he said.

He recommends looking for an eddy along the edge of a current where the shad might pause for a rest.

“Poor man’s salmon,” angler Tony Glennon quipped Thursday at the weigh station, in recognition of the fight shad will put up.

Scroll through the photos above for a look at Thursday’s opening day of the 2025 Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest. Spectators can find spots to watch the fishing action from Easton’s Scott and Riverside parks or along Union Square in Phillipsburg.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.