PSU are you certain it was a "local yokel" or a "fellow angler" and not  biologist???    Wait....!!!! What, gotta run, email comin' in from FishUSA sumpthin's on sale!!!

Yes I heard that from the fish commission too.....somebody dumped their minnow bucket in the in the lake or somebody thought the lake needed them.
Could be or the eggs just coulda hitched a ride on the waterfowl.
However they got there, they are there and now we'll just have to wait and see how many and if the PFBC has a plan other than to say over and over, "All we need is one good hard winter!"

If you read up on Shad they all don't die off especially the bigger ones. Problem is they start to adapt more and more to cold water. I seen a bunch of big Shad dead up at Pymy a few years ago in late April they were all 10-14" size and some were barely alive and swimming on the surface. Had to be 25-30 carcasses lying along the shoreline. I actually foul hooked a few while plugging for Musky. Why they were dying off that late is unknown to me. Seagulls and Muskrats were happy !  
 
Shenango Lake still has huge concentrations of Shad, some years more than others. The Hybrid Stripers , Ospreys and Eagles love em !  

mikesdad
Yes I heard that from the fish commission too.....somebody dumped their minnow bucket in the in the lake or somebody thought the lake needed them.
Could be or the eggs just coulda hitched a ride on the waterfowl.
However they got there, they are there and now we'll just have to wait and see how many and if the PFBC has a plan other than to say over and over, "All we need is one good hard winter!"

I m starting to believe that you are part of the group that believes the world is flat.

If the shad are results of fisherman can you believe the enormous schools of Fathead Minnows there must be swimming in the area lakes? My gosh the ducks would be walking on the fishes backs. Wait...... What?

BTDT, you got that right. Over the past 55 or some odd years that I've been fishin' on my own, I've personally stocked several thousand fatheads into the Allegheny River. (You know, fishin' sucks, dump the bait bucket and go home). (Though this year, at $20 plus a pound for fatheads, I'll try to keep 'em for a few days if possible).  
Tonight, my son is at the monthly meeting of the 3 Rivers Musky Club, and their guest speaker is the head of the fish commission. My boy says he's gonna try and put him on the spot about stocking and the warm water fishery. (The only good thing for trout is Musky bait)! We'll see how that goes.

The Fathead Minnow’s original range in Pennsylvania included the Appalachian Mountains and west. Today, this species is distributed statewide and appears most often in small, still waterways and slow-moving streams
http://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/GalleryPennsylvaniaFishes/Pages/CarpsandMinnows.aspx
 
 
No harm, no foul by dumping out fatheads, unless they aren't really fathead minnows.
 
 

We would always dump out our bait buckets near the docks at the end of the day. Several times Bass , Pike and whatever would dart out from underneath and enjoy a fast meal ! ....lol
They learn quick where to get a free lunch.
 
Most bait shops buy bait from registered distributers . About the only odd fish I've ever found in a bought bait bucket are baby size Catfish . Although some people still trap and seine for minnows they could dump in odd fish like Shad over the years. Remember when a live Piranha was caught in Pymy a few years back....they won't live in cold overall, but somebody tossed it in. 
 
I'm wondering how long before Gobies end up in our inland lakes or streams ? You know it's coming.      

PSU
The only thing worse than than a 'local yokel' who thinks he is a biologist, is a biologist who thinks he knows it all.

"The hierarchy of biological organization. From ecology to molecular biology, the science of biology studies them all. Biology is the science of life. ... Biologists study the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and distribution of living organisms."

Then a biologist gets employed by the PFBC and tries changing everything to their way of liking.

That's some scary stuff.......