We drove down for the Hickory/American Shad run, had trouble initially finding schools of fish but with the help from a friend, found good amounts. We never could locate any American, or "White" Shad, as they call them here, but the Hickory Shad kept us busy the last few hours. Thanks to Scott and Brandon for the help, we had a blast, thanks guys.

I found a small pond and caught a few of these, which appear to be Black Bullheads to me, anyone agree?

And then the Shad kept on coming.

We ended up with about ten a piece, a fine day of fishing and collecting, except the elusive Mud Sunfish is still out there somewhere....

How are you cooking the shad?  And what do you think of the taste?  

Re bullhead, yours looks just like the black bullead pic in Fritz's SC book, but without a closeup of pectoral spine "teeth" it's hard to be sure that it's not a brown bullhead.  

How are you cooking the shad?  And what do you think of the taste?  

Re bullhead, yours looks just like the black bullead pic in Fritz's SC book, but without a closeup of pectoral spine "teeth" it's hard to be sure that it's not a brown bullhead.  

Oh the Shad we kept were for a friend, I really couldn't eat Shad myself. Haha.

Glad you guys had fun, and sorry I couldn't stay longer! Did you ever catch that dang shiner? 

Glad you guys had fun, and sorry I couldn't stay longer! Did you ever catch that dang shiner? 

Na never did get that Shiner. Brandon found us a ton of Shad though later on. Great day.

Nice!  Glad you got into some fish!  I've heard American Shad fight like the dickens, how are the Hickories?  I see a spinning reel and a casting reel; what action rods were you using?

Nice!  Glad you got into some fish!  I've heard American Shad fight like the dickens, how are the Hickories?  I see a spinning reel and a casting reel; what action rods were you using?

I had my bass rod but any medium size rig works good. Oh yeah they fight really well but don't approach the sizes of American Shad. I am going after American Shad sometime in the next week or so depending on how far inland they get.

Gerald, here is another of the Bullhead. I read that Black Bullheads aren't apparently native to the coastal plain but there are locations where they have been found. With this fish, is checking the dorsal fin for teeth the only way to id it? I may be able to id with an anal fin count correct?

These two were in two small ponds, more of a swampy type area. I was wondering if the ponds were stocked with Black or native Brown Bullheads and then they reproduced. Just a guess.

The black is a Gulf drainage species, not native anywhere in the Atlantic drainage rivers, but has been stocked many places.  I'm looking at Fritz's SC book, and all of the fin rays counts are about the same for black vs brown.  The differences are: 1) body color (brown = often mottled, black = not mottled); 2) anal and caudal fin color: (brown = more or less uniform color, black = paler basal portion and darker toward edge); and 3) Pectoral fin serrations: (brown = prominent serrations, black = small, weakly developed serrations).  Not sure I've ever seen a black, so I'll let others who have seen both species make their best guesses on your fish. 

The black is a Gulf drainage species, not native anywhere in the Atlantic drainage rivers, but has been stocked many places.  I'm looking at Fritz's SC book, and all of the fin rays counts are about the same for black vs brown.  The differences are: 1) body color (brown = often mottled, black = not mottled); 2) anal and caudal fin color: (brown = more or less uniform color, black = paler basal portion and darker toward edge); and 3) Pectoral fin serrations: (brown = prominent serrations, black = small, weakly developed serrations).  Not sure I've ever seen a black, so I'll let others who have seen both species make their best guesses on your fish. 

Ok, thanks. I have a few more pictures if needed.

Sounds like a fun and productive day!