Question.. I was on Rhodes River yesterday... and a number of fish were jumping...

[rob-kayak]

Question.. I was on Rhodes River yesterday... and a number of fish were jumping around me.

When they came out of the water they made a "whizzing" sound. I was catching a bunch
of croakers at the time bottom fishing with artificial bloodworms.

I tossed out a white gulp shad for a while but no takers...

Were they croakers chasing smaller minnows to the surface or was something chasing them ?
They were all about 9 inches I would guess... and I am guessing they were croakers.. because that
is what I was catching.

R.

[HJS]

They were most likely peanut bunker, aka: juvenile menhaden. They frequently jump clear of the water and made a high frequency snapping noises when they do. The noise could easily be called a "whizzing sound". You can duplicate the noise by briskly pulling a drumstick across a washboard as fast as you can. This jumping whizzing behavior gets much more intense at dusk.

For the most part, nothing is chasing these little bunker to the surface, it's just what they do for kicks...for lack of a better explanation.