The Peanut Bunker Dance
By
Bob Salerno
This baitfish will suddenly appear like a dark slowly moving cloud in the water, which can sometimes be measured in acres. Of all the different species of bait that inhabit our coastal waters, no other can ignite feeding sprees as juvenile menhaden or “peanut bunker.” Massive schools move into southern New England waters usually around the latter part of July. The summer slow dance can quickly change to a heart pounding march, as their presence will attract marauding striped bass, bluefish, fluke and false albacore.
Baby bunker are somewhat round in shape and are characterized by a large head and deeply forked tail. Color ranges from a dark blue to green and shades of brown along its dorsal with a brassy sheen on its side’s belly and fins.
The first arrivals of peanut bunker are small, averaging less than two inches. As summer stretches into September the numbers of highly prized bait will swell and their sizes will increase until they are about 4 inches in length by late October. They will be the main food source of food for most of the coastal gamefish.
The old adage of find the bait and you’ll find the fish is true in the case of peanut bunker. Large predators seem to smell this bait from mile around. Find a school juvenile bunker and almost certain bass, blues, albacore or all of them are lurking on the schools fringe or picking them from below. Often times sizeable fish may be tearing through the school in an exciting surface blitz.
When large schools are encountered, sometimes the angler is faced with the problem of enticing a sportfish to take a single offering in the midst of hundreds of thousands of the real thing. There are some very realistic artificial lures and flys on the market that work very well when the bait is thick. Jigs, swimmers and poppers will usually give an angler a reasonable rate of success. Kastmasters and Rat-L-Trap style lures closely resemble baby bunker and have become proven choice with many anglers. Poppers such as Atoms in white with a blue or yellow head will trick both stripers and blues that are frenzy feeding on the surface. Poppers are ignored when the fish are feeding from underneath the school.
When bass, bluefish or false albacore are selectively taking this bait especially in the warm waters of late summer, fly fishermen will tend to have an edge. Streamer flys tied with synthetic materials and crafted closely in size have taken many wary fish. At times properly presented live bait is the only solution. One method that is employed by many anglers is the bare jig head. Cast a bare jig head into a bait school and pull it back sharply. Once the baby bunker is snagged and can be felt on the end of the line stop reeling and let it drop below the school. Any predator that is cruising below the bait ball will attack the wounded fish that has left the security of the school. Many big bass, bluefish and fluke are taken with this method when no artificial will work because the predators were targeting the abundant bait.
Mid July marks the time when schools of baby menhaden will stream along the coastline of southern New England. Depending on the water temperature their presence can energize sluggish fish and set the stage for excellent late summer and fall fishing. It’s time to be on the lookout for dark undulating clouds of peanut bunker that just could attract a big striper to your lure or bait.
By
Bob Salerno
This baitfish will suddenly appear like a dark slowly moving cloud in the water, which can sometimes be measured in acres. Of all the different species of bait that inhabit our coastal waters, no other can ignite feeding sprees as juvenile menhaden or “peanut bunker.” Massive schools move into southern New England waters usually around the latter part of July. The summer slow dance can quickly change to a heart pounding march, as their presence will attract marauding striped bass, bluefish, fluke and false albacore.
Baby bunker are somewhat round in shape and are characterized by a large head and deeply forked tail. Color ranges from a dark blue to green and shades of brown along its dorsal with a brassy sheen on its side’s belly and fins.
The first arrivals of peanut bunker are small, averaging less than two inches. As summer stretches into September the numbers of highly prized bait will swell and their sizes will increase until they are about 4 inches in length by late October. They will be the main food source of food for most of the coastal gamefish.
The old adage of find the bait and you’ll find the fish is true in the case of peanut bunker. Large predators seem to smell this bait from mile around. Find a school juvenile bunker and almost certain bass, blues, albacore or all of them are lurking on the schools fringe or picking them from below. Often times sizeable fish may be tearing through the school in an exciting surface blitz.
When large schools are encountered, sometimes the angler is faced with the problem of enticing a sportfish to take a single offering in the midst of hundreds of thousands of the real thing. There are some very realistic artificial lures and flys on the market that work very well when the bait is thick. Jigs, swimmers and poppers will usually give an angler a reasonable rate of success. Kastmasters and Rat-L-Trap style lures closely resemble baby bunker and have become proven choice with many anglers. Poppers such as Atoms in white with a blue or yellow head will trick both stripers and blues that are frenzy feeding on the surface. Poppers are ignored when the fish are feeding from underneath the school.
When bass, bluefish or false albacore are selectively taking this bait especially in the warm waters of late summer, fly fishermen will tend to have an edge. Streamer flys tied with synthetic materials and crafted closely in size have taken many wary fish. At times properly presented live bait is the only solution. One method that is employed by many anglers is the bare jig head. Cast a bare jig head into a bait school and pull it back sharply. Once the baby bunker is snagged and can be felt on the end of the line stop reeling and let it drop below the school. Any predator that is cruising below the bait ball will attack the wounded fish that has left the security of the school. Many big bass, bluefish and fluke are taken with this method when no artificial will work because the predators were targeting the abundant bait.
Mid July marks the time when schools of baby menhaden will stream along the coastline of southern New England. Depending on the water temperature their presence can energize sluggish fish and set the stage for excellent late summer and fall fishing. It’s time to be on the lookout for dark undulating clouds of peanut bunker that just could attract a big striper to your lure or bait.