I've been enjoying McPhee's "The Founding Fish" as a bathroom book. That way I get to enjoy it in small doses. The personal anecdotes mixed with history make a very flavorable [sic] book. Based on the article linked to and his personal history, I suspect that much of the content appeared in the New Yorker.
Despite the denigrating comment shad are fantastic eating, whether pickled or broiled. I prefer pickled, as shad are very bony, being of the herring family, and the pickling dissolves the bones.
My friend Andy, an inveterate fisherman, is of the catch 'em and throw back persuasion. He says that the hen shad have not arrived in the river as of this morning.
I say, why torture the fish unless you're going to do the respectful thing and consume it?