Raritan bay bait

[shucker]

Ive been fishing mostly down south this summer and barnegat bay is chocked with nutz,mullet,snapper and spot.I was wondering if you guys up north are seeing the same in the back of the bay?

[dfish28]

In shark river I was wondering where the hell is all the bait, especially spearing

[Gerry Zagorski]

Leonardo State Marina had some Peanuts earlier in the summer but they were far and few between... Have not seen any in weeks when it's usually pretty thick . Mullet usually come in around this time of year but have not seen them yet. Been marking a lot of bait balls and been seeing small Turns working them in and around the hook and they are definately not Bunker... I'm thinking Rain Fish.

[LIGHTACKLE]

Yeah where were the spearing all summer??? Used to be so thick you could walk across the water on them? Maybe repercussions from Sandy still??

[Capt Sal]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Leonardo State Marina had some Peanuts earlier in the summer but they were far and few between... Have not seen any in weeks when it's usually pretty thick . Mullet usually come in around this time of year but have not seen them yet. Been marking a lot of bait balls and been seeing small Turns working them in and around the hook and they are definately not Bunker... I'm thinking Rain Fish.

This spring Raritan Bay had a lot of bunker but they were not the large spawners.They were the perfect size for live lining but I would have like to have seen some large spawners.What will this mean for the bunker population in two or three years?There should be tons of peanut bunker every where!We also did not see grass shrimp in quantity.The June fluke run in the west end of the bay was not up to par and it all has to do with bait!If the peanut bunker were thick the mouth of the Shrewsbury would be on fire with fluke.What we need next are sand ells to hold the migratory stripers in our waters.

[Gerry Zagorski]

"What we need next are sand ells to hold the migratory stripers in our waters"

Exactly!!

[torchee]

Catching mullet and peanuts in the Hudson River

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll pour into the bay this weekend

[spearo]

Was in the way back of the Shrew last night, loaded with 3-4" peanuts and mullet. First time in a long time I've sen mullet back there.

[shresearchdude]

Although people were scratching their heads when they weren't finding big Spearing-there have been TONS of tiny Spearing and Anchovies(rainfish) around...which of course meant that there was large Spearing around
.. in the Navesink..in the bay..and they are currently about an inch or two.

Crossing the bay from AH harbor the boat has been marking enormous amounts of fish holding mid-water. Perhaps the croaker/spot?

but the whale probably ate them all yesterday!