This is from 1984 and to my knowledge one of the first times our Eastern NC shad fishing has been featured on film. If you’ll notice the guy in the back of the boat catching all the fish, that’s my friend Joe Albea, creator and host of the Carolina Outdoor Journal. He was a still photographer at that time and it looks to me that Franc brought him along as the designated fish catcher. His fish catching abilities haven’t dwindled one bit today. Here is a screen shot of him with a “bent pole” from that episode:
Today I had the privilege to fish with Joe on the Tar River. We fished hard most of the morning and pounded out 28 shad….not bad for the Tar on Feb. 14th. This is Joe’s 50th year shad fishing. Here’s a picture he took of my first double of 2024! There is nothing like shad season. It’s my favorite time of year!
