A pair of waders enables non-boating anglers to acess intercept points in the rivers and fish comfortably despite water temps in the high 50s and 60s. (Photo0 by David A. Brown)
April 14, 2025
By David A. Brown
Some of Capt. Mark Benson’s clients travel the world chasing top-tier targets like marlin, Atlantic salmon and roosterfish. But when a bunch of beautiful little distance swimmers that weigh just 2 to 5 pounds pile into Florida’s St. Johns River, many of those same globe-trotting anglers make a bee line to the Sunshine State. Given the sporting nature of the relatively modest fish, that’s not surprising.
We’re talking about American shad, an anadromous species that leaves its Atlantic Ocean home in droves and travels thousands of miles to swim up Southern rivers and spawn in the waters of their birth. Also known as Atlantic, common and white shad, American...
Continue Reading