Shad Run Tracker
American shad and hickory shad live at sea and run up coastal rivers to spawn. This page reads every report we collect from states with shad rivers, picks out the ones about American or hickory shad, and shows which states are reporting them now. Gizzard and threadfin shad, the baitfish, are left out.
Right now, state by state
No shad reports in the last 14 days in any of the 18 states we track. That is what the reports say right now, not a forecast.
In our records, reports tagging shad ran from April 2026 (2 reports) to July 2026, and made up the largest share of our reports in May 2026. Our records begin April 3, 2026, so anything reported before then is not counted.
States we track: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, California, Oregon, Washington. This page fills in on its own as soon as reports start mentioning shad again.
When shad show up in our reports
The number over each bar is how many reports tagged shad with a condition that month. Bar height is that count as a share of every report we collected from these states that month, so a month we simply collected more in does not look busier. Striped bars are months before our records begin: no record, not zero. October 2026 is the month so far.
Wayfinder
Planning a shad trip?
Wayfinder builds a plan around the water you are fishing, the species you are after and the conditions that week.
Guides
- Enfield Dam Stacks Shad Every May. What CT DEEP's Anadromous Fish Program, Connecticut River Regulars, and Salmon River Confluence Reports Reveal About Timing Connecticut's Spring Shad Run
- Delaware River shad run: timing, access, and tactics for April
- How to fish the spring shad run on California's Sacramento River
Before you go
Seasons, size limits and bag limits for shad differ by state and change. Check the official rules for the state you are fishing on our regulations by state page, which links straight to each state agency.
More run trackers
- Striped Bass Migration TrackerThe coastal striper run from Maine to Florida, with a weekly heatmap and every past week on record.
- False Albacore TrackerAlbies, also called little tunny, state by state on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
- Redfish and Bull Red TrackerRed drum from Delaware to Texas, with a count of reports that mention bull reds.
How this is built
Every fishing report we collect is scanned for shad. A report that tags the fish with a condition (“hot”, “slow”) scores on that condition; a report that only mentions the fish in passing counts as presence, weakly. The strongest report in a state sets that state’s status.
We do not model the run or predict where the fish will be next week. This is a picture of what anglers, shops, charters and state agencies actually reported, which is a smaller claim and one we can stand behind.
Live status last read October 23, 2026.
EVERY SATURDAY MORNING
Weekly fishing intelligence
Nationwide conditions, what's biting, and honest gear deals. One email, no noise.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.