Jeff Paine plays in a hole on the Farmington River in Tariffville, Connecticut.

A couple of weeks ago I shot some kayakers on the Farmington River in Tariffville, Connecticut.  This section of the Farmington (a tributary of the Connecticut River) has the most reliable whitewater throughout the year in the state of Connecticut (with the possible exception of the Housatonic in the western part of the state.)  I'll be honest - I was wishing I was in the river instead of on shore shooting, but I did have some fun shooting and living vicariously through this group of paddlers (who are way better than me by the way!)


Jeff in the middle of a cartwheel.


The Holyoke Dam on the Connecticut River

A week later (last Saturday) I was in Holyoke, Massachusetts to capture some details about what happens during the American Shad migration on the Connecticut River.  Like salmon, Shad are an anadromous fish - born in freshwater, spending most of their adult life in the ocean, and returning to freshwater to spawn.  Every April and May, millions of Shad leave the Atlantic and head up rivers up and down the eastern seaboard to spawn.  The Connecticut River has a fairly healthy run of Shad, which usually numbers between 150,000 and 500,00 fish.  The Holyoke Dam is the first dam on the river, and the fish congregate here as they try to figure out how to get upstream.


The fishlift at the Holyoke Dam


Lorena Zurita and Caleb Perry from Greenfield Community College count fish as they pass through the Holyoke fish lift.

Shad (or any fish for that matter) can't swim over the dam.  Most of them follow the current into one of two fish lifts at the bottom of the dam, and are lifted up and over the dam.  On the way, they pass through a public viewing area and a private counting room where biologists track the numbers for each species of fish that pass through.  Shad and sea lamprey are the most numerous these days, but other species that pass through include Atlantic Salmon, Shortnose Sturgeon, Blueback Herring, Striped Bass.  The viewing room is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from May 9th through June 17th - more info at: http://www.hged.com/html/hadley_falls_fish_lift.html


An American Shad leaping through the rapids below the Holyoke Dam.


A scene during Holyoke Shad Derby Days on May 12.


An average-sized catch during Shad Derby Days.

Hundreds of thousands of fish will bring fishermen of course, and Holyoke hosts a Shad Derby Days fishing contest during the middle two weekends of May.  The winners have been in the six pound range the last few years, but just a decade ago, winners were often over 8 pounds, and once challenged the world record of over 11 pounds.

I'm in the middle of reading John McPhee's book, The Founding Fish, which so far is a great story about the life and death of shad and America's shad fishery as well as the people involved with these fish.  Highly recommended.

I'll be back on the river in about ten days.  In the meantime, I've got some shooting to do in central New Hampshire, Worcester County, Mass, and we'll be making a trip up to Acadia National Park to do a book signing.

Until next time...
-Jerry

        

 

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