Delaware
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.
The Hagley Museum and Library houses a collection of patent models
The Hagley Museum and Library houses the nation’s second-largest collection of patent models, many of which the public never gets to see.
For most, 41 years of service is more than enough. For State Librarian Annie Norman, though, even retirement can’t slow her down.
“The work is never done; there’s always something to do,” she said. “I’m going to have to continue to help in other ways.”
Norman will step away this fall after 24 years as the Delaware state librarian and director of the Delaware Division of Libraries.
Throughout her tenure, Norman made waves; the director helped create the Delaware Library Consortium, which allowed all of Delaware’s Public libraries to share items, and brought the library system along during a wave of technological change. For these achievements, she was named to the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016 and appointed by President Joe Biden as a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board.
We spoke with Norman as she wraps up an accomplished career about her proudest achievements, and the state of libraries in 2026.
Question: As you look back on your tenure, what was your proudest accomplishment?
Answer: What I’ll be known for more than anything is probably the statewide library catalog and consortium. The politics of bringing all of those libraries together, after years of there being four separate library catalogs in Delaware, took about eight years. More recently, I think bringing the school libraries into that catalog is going to be really significant. We’ve got more than 50 school libraries to be a part of the statewide catalog, something we think can really help with the literacy crisis in this state.
One of the biggest challenges of your tenure was adjusting to the large wave of technology that came about. How have you and the Delaware libraries handled it?
It’s been very systematic. We have a great IT team that helps manage for us, as well as the state funding 100% of library technologies. The growth of the iPhone has certainly had a huge impact on literacy, but we’re really just working hard to bring back the excitement of reading.
The Delaware libraries’ programming have always been a popular resource. How important do you view these offerings to local communities, and will they continue to expand?
Yes, libraries are about enrichment, which means helping support people in things like entrepreneurship, education and innovation. We’ve had libraries start up job centers, which were so successful we could expand to entrepreneurship, and even help with more basic social needs, by starting a “social innovation team” to help with more of the social services-type work.
Where we still struggle is we can only help people access Delaware systems to help with their needs, not fix things within those systems. For that reason, we always encourage these systems to work with us, so the Delaware library system can fit everyone’s needs.
Cuts toward libraries just occurred in New Castle County, with the potential for more to come. How will the library system look to stay afloat?
Because of the economy, because of federal changes, things can get difficult, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced budget cuts. We’ve progressed significantly over the years, but there is much more work to do, and I don’t know that the public understands how critical libraries and librarians are to literacy.
The power of walking into a library and being able to choose what you want to read for a child is powerful, and until people understand that, we can’t achieve our literacy goals.
Adam Denn is an intern reporter for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach him at apdenn@delawareonline.com.
Inspiration
Do you have a suggestion for our Inspiration page? E-mail Tammy Paolino at tpaolino@usatodayco.com
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — People in Delaware County said it feels like new housing developments are popping up on every corner.
WSYX
“What haven’t you noticed, right? The whole area just exploded,” said Scott Shonebarger.
Scott Sanders, the executive director of the Regional Planning Commission, said companies like Intel and other industries are a main driver for thousands of people moving to Delaware County.
With the big boom comes an urgent need for more housing.
John Wicks is the developer at Real Property Design and Development.
He has spent over a decade building homes for families in Delaware County.
Wicks said the Olentangy School District is one of the hottest spots for new homes.
“I started with one high school up until the 90s, then now we’re up to four up to five different high schools so it’s just a big draw,” said Wicks. “It’s a beautiful community.”
The district has grown into the fourth largest in Ohio with a new elementary school opening next year, and a fifth high school in 2028.
Wicks said the growth has presented some challenges over the years like labor shortage and some opposition.
“It’s become a big issue for a lot of people that live in and around these areas. They tend to oppose new growth and new development, so restrictions have gotten a little bit harder. Costs have obviously gone up over the last 20 years,” said Wicks.
The planning commission says between 275,000 and 350,000 people could call Delaware County home by 2040.
That’s up from 214,000 in 2020.
Scott Shonebarger said he supports growth but wonders when is enough.
“I mean to a certain extent I think you know at some point right you have to have some sort of boundaries I think, getting into the fact that now you have five high schools,” said Shonebarger. “What’s the limit?”
Police in Wilmington, Delaware, shot and killed a 19-year-old man Wednesday night.
The incident happened in a residential area near 24th and Jessup streets just after 11 p.m., Wilmington police said in a news release. The person who was shot has not been publicly identified.
Officers were monitoring a large crowd gathered outside when they saw a man exit a home with a handgun and point it toward the crowd, police say.
When officers approached the man, he ran away and a foot pursuit began, police say.
At some point in the chase, an officer fired their weapon and hit the 19-year-old. The man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police say they recovered a loaded gun from the man and that the officer was not injured.
Video filmed at the scene shows a crowd of residents gathered outside after the shooting.
Police are asking anyone with more information to come forward. The shooting is under investigation by the Delaware Department of Justice and Wilmington police.
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