When you live in Grifton, it’s easy to go out in search of shad. From January through April, locals like Tyra Sparrow, vice president of the Grifton Shad Festival, launch their skiffs into Contentnea Creek, where they often catch hickory shad as the fish make their way upstream to spawn. “My family lives about a mile from the creek, so we spend almost every day during shad season on the creek bank,” Sparrow says.

Throughout shad season, the Sparrows see winter turn to spring: from January and February mornings, when the first hour on the water is spent waiting for the sun to rise, to early March outings that are marked by the arrival of catfish and the appearance of pale green cypress leaves.

Some anglers head out because that’s part of everyday life in Grifton. Others hope to capture a shad big enough, and early enough, to win a trophy at the Grifton Shad Festival in April. Any shad caught from January until the start of the festival can be entered in the hickory shad fishing contest. The festival — a four-day event — is devoted to celebrating the town’s favorite saltwater visitor, but it also marks the end of a successful fishing season.

In early 2022, Sparrow, bundled up in a large Carhartt jacket and a toboggan cap, steered her 12-foot Carolina skiff from Gaskins Landing across Contentnea Creek. Her husband, Eric, and their son, Braxton (whose middle name is Fisher, no less), watched in awe as the self-described “pretty competitive” angler reeled in a hickory shad. She took it to Stoney Creek Outfitters, Grifton’s local bait and tackle shop, where it was officially declared the first shad of the season. Four months later, Sparrow was awarded a trophy for being the first woman in the festival’s history to achieve the feat.

The inaugural Grifton Shad Festival was held in 1971, started by a group of locals who thought it would foster fellowship within the community. Today, anglers from all over eastern North Carolina come to Grifton to catch shad during the first four months of the year. That’s when the fish leave their saltwater homes to travel up through tributaries into freshwater rivers — like the Neuse and the Roanoke — where they lay eggs.

That first festival had a parade, speakers, a fish fry, games and contests, a shad queen competition, and a street dance to end the day. Most of those activities still take place, but now the festival brings 20,000 visitors to Grifton, a town of fewer than 3,000. The schedule has also expanded to add other activities, including art exhibits, fireworks, and a variety of food vendors — but no shad, as it’s a bony fish that must be fried almost immediately upon catching it to be enjoyed.

By Sunday morning, most of the out-of-town visitors have returned home. But at a community church service that’s held at Contentnea Creekside Overlook Park, locals gather one final time to pray as the fish that put Grifton on the map begin to make their way downstream.

More to Explore: To find more April events, visit ourstate.com/calendar.