Essex plans 46th annual Shad Bake for June 4

• As you're heading for the 46th-annual Shad Bake in Essex, Conn., June 4, consider the shad, a once-lowly fish that's found a place in the history, as well as on the dinner plates, of America. We might even have lost the Revolutionary war, if not for the fish. A shad run on the Delaware River helped stave off starvation for George Washington's troops at Valley Forge. Elsewhere in history, General Pickett (of Pickett's Charge fame) was interrupted at a shad bake to fight the battle of Five Forks, near the end of the Civil War.
• So, you'll not only be filling up on fish, but you'll become part of the local lore of the shad, too. For, although the big fish don't run in the numbers they used to, they're still a part of the warp and woof of Connecticut River valley life. To grasp the importance of this fish locally, Waterlines goes back to the May 9, 1862 edition of the Willimantic Journal, and its feature on shad: "For many years, one of the principal industries of the town of Saybrook was its shad fisheries," the article begins. "Previous to the Revolutionary war, shad were not considered of much value, and it is said that if a family had one on the table, and saw a neighbor coming in, they would put it out of sight, being ashamed to be seen eating so common a fish."
• Still, the river, the Long Island sound coast, and every creek and bay, teemed with them each Spring, and the shad couldn't be ignored. The first organized fishing was mostly done with short seines, which were hauled onshore by hand.
• Shad piers (some still visible today) outfitted with capstans were the first improvement. "It is said that Capt. Daniel Ingraham, who lived to be 90 years old, built the first fishing pier on the river [early in the 1800s]. These piers, which were afterward used by most of the fisheries, were built on the river flats, near the edge of the channel, of logs and stone, the tops being out at high water, and on these, two capstans were placed for hauling in ropes attached to the two arms of the seine. The one built by Captain Ingraham was known as Jamaica pier, [and] was set directly off the mouth of Ragged Rock Creek."
• The fishery at the mouth of the river, near the now Inner lighthouse, was for many years one of the best. "No pier was needed there, the seine being hauled directly ashore. The beach was covered with stones, which gave it the name of the Pavement. Four thousand [shad] were caught at the Pavement in one day, the largest haul [taking in] 1,700 [fish]."
• In those days, the shad were mostly salted instead of being sold fresh, and the principal fisheries presented a busy scene in Saybrook at the height of the season. "The gangs usually consisted of eight or nine men ... employed to dress and salt. Large sheds were built to contain the salt, the hogsheads of salt fish, and the stores. [At one time], there happening to be a scarcity of salt in the town, an ox team was dispatched to Stanton's [store] in Clinton, for a 50-bushel load, to salt them with."
• When all the fisheries that were owned and fished by the people of the present town of Old Saybrook were in full operation they must have given employment to 250 or 300 men, the article says.
• Shad fishing from boats was another method, and it gave birth to a specialized vessel known as the Connecticut River drag boat. The article continues: "The fill net shad fisheries probably began about the same time that the seine fisheries did, and with nets about 20 or 30 rods long (roughly 350-450 feet), and small round-bottom boats or sharpies. While the hauling seines were set with one end fast to the pier or shore, and were hauled in at that point, the fill or drag nets, as they were called, were let off the boat at certain reaches on the river, and both boat and net were allowed to drift down with tide, the net being taken up whenever the owners saw fit, or when the tide was setting them upon some obstruction. Later on these nets were increased in length, till they swept nearly the whole channel in some places. They are usually made at present, from 60 to 80 rods in length. The boats have also been much improved, and Connecticut river drag boats are now some of the most able boats in the world. Some of the most successful drag men have sometimes caught from 3,000 to 5,000 shad in a season." Today, as the Journal put it 143 years ago, "the business is still carried on, but not so extensively and profitably as formerly."
• The Shad Bake, sponsored by the Essex Rotary, is set for June 4 at the Essex Elementary School, Essex, Conn., beginning at 5 p.m. For tickets and details, go to: essexrotary.com.