Figure 2, 



-Weekly fishing success for shad on Connecticut River, 

 1957 and 1958. 



COMPOSITION OF THE CATCH 



In the early part of the season prac- 

 tically all shad landed were kept irre- 

 spective of size or sex because the fish 

 were less abundant than at any other 

 time during the season. As the season 

 progressed and fishing was more suc- 

 cessful, fishermen released many small 

 shad (usually males). Fishermen preferred 

 females regardless of size because the 



roe is considered a delicacy. Towards 

 the end of the season, many shad of both 

 sexes were released because their con- 

 dition was poor. Males predominated 

 during the early part of the run, and 

 females predominated from the middle 

 to the end of the run. 



Scale samples were collected during 

 both seasons. These were read for total 

 age and number of times previously 

 spawned, using a method developed by 

 Gating (1953). Table 7 gives a summary 

 of the age distribution and spawning his- 

 tory by sex of fish sampled. The number 

 of shad which had spawned the previous 

 season was relatively constant for both 

 years: 14.2 percent in 1957 and 14.6 

 percent in 1958. In 1957 the males were 

 predominantly 3, 4, and 5 years old, and 

 each of these age groups was present in 

 about equal proportions. The females in 

 1957 were predominantly 5 years old. 

 During the 1958 season the majority of 

 males were 4 years old, while the majority 

 of the females were 5 years old. 



The average fork length by sex (15.6 

 inches for males and 18.7 inches for 

 females) showed no significant difference 



I^ble 7. --Age distribution and spawning history by sex of sampled shad, 

 Connecticut River sport fishery, 1957-58. 



