SHAD FISHING
By George Sugg

Shad is a delicious fish of the herring family.  It is a salt-water fish which goes up fresh-water rivers and streams to spawn in the same place where it was hatched.  In the Grifton area, two types of shad are caught, the White (American) which averages three pounds, and the Hickory shad which ranges from one to two pounds.  Both are bluish above, with silvery sides and a forked tail.  We normally catch about twenty Hickory shad to one White.

Catches run from five to thirty, and it is not uncommon to catch twenty during the height of the season.  The season begins the third week of February and lasts through the end of April, with March being the best month.

During shad season, a seining operation may be observed occasionally at Maple Cypress on the Neuse River (see map).

 The best fishing spots are Pitchkettle Creek, Grindle Creek, Contentnea Creek (from mouth to bridge at by-pass above Grifton), and in Neuse River below mouths of above creeks (see map).

 The best type of boat to use is a small creek boat with  a small motor.  Large boats (16 ft.) can be launched at several places in Grifton, on Pitchkettle, and on Grindle Creeks.  Creek access spots are marked on the map with “à”

 Best tackle is light or ultra-light spinning, 4-lb. to 8-lb. line.  Shad can be caught by trolling or casting.  Casting is far more popular.  A combination of the dart and spoon is used most frequently and is the best lure.

 Shad Festival fishermen have set five state records for hickory shad caught on hook and line: Dick Campbell of Grifton in 1971 (the first Shad Festival) for a 2-lb. 9-oz. hickory shad taken in Contentnea Creek; Sam C. Sugg of LaGrange in 1973 for a 2-lb. 11-1/4-oz. shad caught in Pitchkettle Creek; John Moore of Grifton in 1974 for a 2-lb. 13-oz. fish also caught in Pitchkettle; and Richard McCarter of Kinston in 1991 for a 2-lb. 14-oz. shad caught at the mouth of Contenentea Creek. In 1999 Gray Powell of Greenville tied the state record of 3.8 lb. which was set in 1992.


A new State Record was set Feb. 22, 2004 by Trey Maroules of Grifton with a 4.04-lb. hickory shad measuring 22 inches, caught at Pitchkettle Creek.

Another record set by a Shad Festival fisherperson was set in 2007 when 9-year-old Jenna Barrow of Winterville registered the First Shad Caught by a Female Youth for the fifth consecutive year. She is the only person of any division to win in five consecutive years. Jenna's First Shad was caught on February 12 at the mouth of Contentnea Creek.