Hi all
Here in the metro Washington, DC area we have runs every spring on the American shad and the hickories in the POTOMAC. Some get very large and we do or did have a moratorium on them so it's usually C&R for all shad. I know that the Americans can be prepared by fileting and smoking them nailed to a plank of cedar. Here's a little historical trivia, George Washington's estate Mount Vernon its on some very choice River front on the Potomac and he harvested great numbers of shad right in front of his home. In those days the Potomac fishery was very bountiful. A lot of work has gone into restoring it and we now also have huge stripers, LM and SM bass, panfish, walleye and of course the snakeheads which are another story. Some restaurants are now serving the snakeheads!