Hickory Shad Ocean City

Type: Ocean
Region: Eastern
Location: rt. 5-0 bridge, Ocean City

My name is Ryan Stouten, age 24, originally from Crofton Md. I have moved to Ocean City for the summer and this week I caught my first fish in my new "hometown." Attached is a picture of what I believe is a Hickory Shad, caught on May 5th, from the Rt. 50 bridge on an incoming tide. I was originally fishing for some early bluefish or rockfish from the bridge when after a few hours of no luck I decided to change my tactics. I switched from throwing large swim shads, bucktails, and gotcha plugs, to tossing some small silver buddies under the birds, and almost immediately hooked up.

I would also like to request some help in identifying Hickory shad, vs. American shad, vs. Herring because as I understand it there is no limit on herring, but shad are only catch and release. Any clarification on differences would be a great help.

DNR RESPONSE: Hello Ryan, we believe you caught a hickory shad though we would need a better picture to be positive. Identifying hickory from american shad can be challenging, the main characteristic to look for is a protruding lower jaw on the hickory, americans are also larger in size with a deeper belly. Herring are much smaller than both types of shad. Here�s a couple of links to help with identifications: