As for shad, my uncle had a recipie for them. He called it "planked shad". Nail the fish to a soft plank, and leave it in the sun. When the fish falls off the plank, pull the nail, take the plank in and eat it (all of the flavor, none of the bones).
Haha - yeah, I’ve heard that same “eat the plank” recipe for several types of not-so-great fish to eat.
Actually, the Asian carp are claimed to be decent eating, but bony unless filleted correctly (leaving about 1/2 the meat as throw-away) - but the bones might not deter my Asian wife at all... I’ve read that operations are springing up to export carp meat to Asia.
My own speculation is that the many new record blue catfish being caught may be in part to them feeding on the hyper-abundant carp. Not that I am interested in such: It’s the smaller channel cat “fiddlers” that are “good eatin’.”
I just watched an episode of Diner, Drive Inns & Dives that featured a restaurant that was well know for it’s fried carp. They had a way of cutting it and deep frying it so the bones were not an issue and it’s been a popular item.