Saturday, May 4, 2013

Menhaden, Keepers, and Bluefish

Things are moving fast in the Bay as fishing has exploded.  I went out last evening and was treated to quite a sight.  Before dark, there were menhaden flipping here and there in front of me.  While this was happening I landed a keeper bass (second of the evening...see photo) along with some smaller fish.  However, right at dark the menhaden came to the surface in astronomical numbers.  They were like rain all over the water as you could hear them and see them.  Occasionally one came flying out of the water as I assume it was being chased by big fish. It was awesome.
While this was going on in front of me, a friend of mine was fishing about ten miles away in another section of the Bay.  He reported the same thing going on in front of him.  There were also decent numbers of stripers in his area as he landed two keepers.  Surprisingly, two guys fishing next to him also landed several bluefish! Yikes, they are here already, no doubt lured into the Bay by massive numbers of pogies.
While all this was going on, my son Ben was thirty miles away fishing the oceanfront.  He landed 20 stripers (one keeper of 32 inches) along with 5 hickory shad.
I can tell you that fishing is as hot as it gets in the springtime right now.  Big numbers of fish are along the oceanfront and the Bay. There are lots of schoolies around but increasing numbers of keepers are also available.  And, you might even hook into a blue!