Delaware River shad tournament returns for 2025, with no repeat winners in 13 years

It’s not easy to win the Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest as evidenced by the fact that the tournament started in 2011 has never had a repeat winner.

However, that doesn’t stop American shad angling enthusiasts from trying.

Plus, it certainly helps when the top prize for the heaviest fish caught during the event can be upwards of $20,000.

When this year’s shad tournament gets underway on the Delaware River on April 24, more than 1,000 anglers are expected to participate, with some coming from as far away as Connecticut, Virginia and North Carolina. Event founder and organizer Eric Fistler says 1,105 people participated in 2024, up from 1,022 in 2023, and early registrations in 2025 are right in line with where they were this time last year.

According to the Williams Township resident, participation in the tournament has been increasing slightly over the past few years and he attributes that to a couple of factors.

“We lost a year from COVID — they didn’t let us have the contest — and then people wanted to get out after COVID …,” Fistler said. “And then just generally the warm weather we’ve been having the past couple of years, we started getting some more fish early.”

The contest coincides with the shads’ springtime spawning run up the undammed Delaware.

As for the early 2025 shad angling reports, things really started to pick up in the last week or so, and Fistler himself had a solid outing Friday, April 4, indicating the fish are definitely in the area. And with a couple of weeks to go until the tournament, the shad-angling action should only get better.

“They started catching them like always in the first week of March in the lower river. Not a lot of shad — one here, one there,” Fistler said. “I think the cold winter we had delayed [the run] a little bit.”

“I was out and it really picked up. I fished four or five hours before work and I got 30 of them,” he said of the fishing two Fridays ago. “I saw other boats and shore fishermen all doing good. I also got some reports from downriver of big numbers — bigger schools — moving up.”

As far as this year’s tournament, everything is essentially the same as in past years. The grand prize is based on sponsorships and the number of paid contest registrations, but Fistler is hoping for a top prize of $20,000. Last year, Ryan Peterson of Easton took the top spot with a 5.185-pound fish, taking home a payout of $25,000.

In addition to the cash prize for the heaviest overall shad, there will be prizes for the top four fish caught each day, as well as women’s and kids’ prizes. One change of note is that Fistler has asked all participants to fill out the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Delaware River & Estuary Angler Log to help the agency with its monitoring of the shad population. American shad numbers have dropped substantially in recent years, and the surveys provide important data in assessing the overall health of the adult spawning population.

“I sent everyone an email about how important it is to send them in,” Fistler said, noting he emailed about 1,200 people. “The Fish Commission gave a report at the (Bi-State Shad Fishing) banquet and hopefully you’ll see a lot of those fish reports turned in this year. We put the word out there and hopefully they can get the information they need.”

While the shad tournament is indeed popular with anglers, actually winning the event is extremely difficult, especially since the top weights nowadays are all within a couple ounces of each other. A diehard shad fisherman himself, Fistler said if an angler really has his or her sights set on trying to win the contest, it all comes down to putting time on the water.

At one time, a lucky angler might catch a 7-, 8- or even 9-pound shad, but those days are long gone. In fact, the last time the heaviest fish caught during the contest was over 6 pounds was in 2017, when a 6.1-pound shad took the top overall prize.

“Now the fish are smaller — 5-pound fish are winning — and everyone’s in it right to the last minute,” Fistler said. “The weights are so close … .”

“Anybody can catch a 5-pound fish and you can see it (in that) this is our 13th year and we’ve had 13 different winners. Anyone can win it; you have to put your time in though.”

Contest details

The 2025 Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest is set for April 24-27. The weigh station is at the Phillipsburg Boat Launch, directly behind Jimmy’s Doggie Stand, 7 Union Square. Registration can be done online at shadfishingcontest.com/application, with fees set at $45 for adults and $25 for children up to age 15.

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