Baitfish question

[john from md]

I saw a bunch of bait fish flopping around on the surface near the mouth of the South River today. They appeared to be smooth skin (like blue fish) silver and blue with a sissors tail and were about 2 inches long. Can anyone identify them? I tried fishing below them but there wasn't anything there.

[J.A. Veil]

There are a lot of small menhaden (peanut bunker) around. They travel in groups of at least several hundred fish in a small area. Periodically they will splash at the surface. The photo shows one I found earlier in the week. The paddletail in the photo is about 3" long. Unless I see the school reacting wildly, I don't bother casting to them. But when there is more splashing or frantically scurrying peanut bunker, it is worth making a cast.


2020-09-07-004.jpg

I am also seeing a lot of smaller and more slender baitfish (1"-1.5" long and skinnier than a pencil). When I cast a lure out and retrieve it, these little baitfish scoot out of the way and leap in the air.

[john from md]

Thanks John. Now I remember why it looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. When I was a kid growing up in Cape May, we used full size bunker cut in half as bait in our crab traps.