SHORE CATCH ON THE FLY

Peanut bunker abounds, so break out white flies

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/28/07
BY CAPT. JIM FREDA
CORRESPONDENT

It's peanut bunker time and that means one thing for the beach and boat fly fisher — some real classic Jersey Shore blitzes are sure to begin.

Peanut bunker are the first year young of the adult mossbunker (menhaden) that entered our backwaters around the time of mid April through May after they were spawned offshore in the open ocean.

They remain in the backwaters where they begin to trickle out at the end of July and continue to do so in increasing numbers through the fall.

This annual run will pick up steam this upcoming month with dropping water temperatures and around the time of the new and full moons of October.

Lunar phases innately drive many of the bait migrations along our coast and understanding this relationship will help to catch more fish by putting you in the right place at the right time.

This run of peanut bunker will continue right into November with the second or third week of that month traditionally being when the largest mass exodus of baits will take place. At least it has been in the last several years but it looks like we may be on earlier course this season.

After that time smaller isolated pods can be present right into the second week of December if water temperatures do not drop down quickly from icy cold fronts coming out of the northwest.

In our area Raritan Bay holds the largest concentration of peanut bunker with Barnegat Bay a distant second. The Shark and Manasquan rivers along with the north and south branches of the Metedeconk, and the Toms River also contribute to a portion of the peanuts that we see moving along the beach.

When the peanuts are on the scene the most productive flies for the fly fisher to use will be wide-bodied deceivers, slab flies or spread flies fished on either intermediate or sinking lines.

It is important that your fly has a wide profile so when viewed from a lateral perspective by a fish it fits in dimensionally with the real thing. When using floating lines, Bob's Bangers and other surface poppers will work well. White or silver underbellies are important here so as to match the white underbelly of the bait.

One fly that is real effective is Geno's Baby Angel, designed by my Shore Catch partner Capt. Gene Quigley. This peanut bunker imitation is tied with all angel hair and matches the bait's profile exactly.

As the fly is stripped through the water, the light-reflecting property of the angel hair scatters light in all directions. This is really an eye-catcher for a bass or bluefish.

The other enticing property about this material is that it undulates when retrieved. This motion nicely imitates the fluttering tail of a scattering bait.

When selecting any of the above flies, fly color is important. White is of key importance at this time so all your flies should have a large mix of it tied in. This can be blended with silver, pearl or other hues that will reflect and scatter light.

On any given day you will have to experiment with the retrieve to find the one that is most effective. Many times changing your retrieve is just enough to draw a strike when the bass are being selective and finicky.

There are times when a steady two handed retrieve will produce strikes and other times when a strip-pause single hand retrieve will work best. Still other times allowing your fly to drift or sink motionless in or beneath the school is the ticket.

Capt. Jim Freda is co-owner and operator of Shore Catch Guide Service, Manasquan. Check out www.shorecatch.com for further information or email jimfreda@optonline.net.