The Town Obsessed with American Shad by Joe Cermele

You know it's time to party when a certain smell comes wafting down the Delaware River in Central New Jersey. To some, it's the scent of a culinary delight. To others (myself included) it just smells like old bait that's been left in the sun. I'm talking about the perfume of American shad being grilled at the annual Shad Festival in Lambertville, NJ. Here, hundreds of people gather for the weekend to praise this fish. So when I decided to check out the festivities, I figured what better way to start than by getting on the water and hooking into a "poor man's salmon."