Shad

Shad is a fish that can be caught in the river in Pelican Town or Cindersap Forest, as well as on Riverlands Farm, Forest Farm, and Hill-Top Farm. It is available during Spring, Summer, and Fall when it is raining, making it a weather-dependent catch for most of the year. It can also be obtained as a gift from a max-friendship cat, and it may appear in Krobus’ shop on Wednesdays or in the Traveling Cart.

Magic Bait allows Shad to be caught regardless of weather, time, or season, which makes it the easiest way to obtain one outside of its normal rainy-day schedule. This is especially useful if you need one for collection purposes or want to save time waiting for the right season.

Shad is also a useful fish for several game systems. It can be used in tailoring to produce the dyeable Fish Shirt, and it serves as a green dye when placed in the dye pots at Emily and Haley’s house. In a Fish Pond, Shad will reproduce every 2 days, with the pond starting at a capacity of 3 fish and increasing to 10 through three pond quests. The only item produced by a Shad pond is green Shad Roe.

Fish Pond quests for Shad ask for the following items as capacity increases:

• From 3 to 5 fish: 3 Acorns, 10 Bug Meat, 3 Maple Seeds, or 3 Pine Cones
• From 5 to 7 fish: 3 Gold Ore, 1 Maple Syrup, or 5 Mixed Seeds
• From 7 to 10 fish: 1 Crayfish, 1 Honey, 2 Jade, or 1 Periwinkle

A Shad pond can produce roe most days, with a 90% chance of producing Shad Roe and a 10% chance of producing nothing. The daily result depends on pond population, but the fish will continue to reproduce so long as there is room in the pond.

Because Shad is a rainy-season river fish, it is often easiest to target it by fishing in the correct locations during wet weather, or by using Magic Bait if you want to catch it on demand. It is also worth keeping at least one high-quality Shad on hand, since quality fish can be relevant for crafting, collection, or other item requirements.