Striped Bass Fishing Forums Forum banner

Project : Baitfish Identification

25K views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  Striperjim 
#1 ·

  • Spot
    Leiostomus xanthurus

    Spot migrate seasonally, entering bays and estuaries in the spring, where they remain until late summer or fall when they move off shore to spawn.
    Adult and juvenile spot are most abundant in the Chesapeake and delaware Bays from April to October. As water temperatures decrease in the fall, most juveniles move to the ocean by December, but some may overwinter in deeper waters of the Bays.
    Spot are known for the croaking or drumming sound they produce by resonating their large swim bladder. Spot occur along the Atlantic coast in estuarine and coastal waters from the Gulf of Maine to Florida; however they are most abundant from Chesapeake Bay south to South Carolina
    They often congregate over oyster beds.
  • 11 inches.
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
The atlantic silverside (spearing) has one dorsal fin.

Water Blue Fin Fish Marine biology

A slim metal metal lure would be a good match.
With a fly teaser in front

One of the first baitfish to show surfside early in spring. You will see them "flitting" about.

The bay anchovy (aka rainfish) has 2 dorsal fins
Water Fin Fish Terrestrial plant Marine biology

Show in Early September
 
#3 ·
Alewife and Blueback Herring
(A.K.A. - River Herring, Alewives)

Key Distinguishing Markings:

Vertebrate Fin Fish Ray-finned fish Marine biology

  • Both alewife and blueback herring are silvery in color and have a series of scutes (modified scales that are spiny and keeled) along their belly.
  • However, the dorsal area of alewife are bronze in color whereas blueback herring are deep bluish green.
  • Alewife are more strongly compressed, deep, with their body is less elongated.
  • Alewife have a much larger eye than blueback herring.
  • The most distinguishing characteristic of these species is the color of their peritoneum or the lining of the abdominal cavity.
  • An alewife's peritoneum is pale with dusky spots.
  • A blueback herring's peritoneum is black to dusky in color.
  • Alewife and blueback herring are collectively termed "river herring" since in most instances, they are difficult to distinguish from one another.
  • Maximum length of a river herring is approximately 15 inches.
River herring start showing in early to mid spring heading in to the river systems to spawn. The stripers wuill be right on their tails.
 
#4 ·
Atlantic Herring - Sea Herring

Fin Fish Liquid Aqua Marine biology

  • The Atlantic herring is a small, pelagic plankton-feeder that grows to a maximum of 17 inches and 1.5 pounds. Distinguishing characteristics include a dorsal fin located midway along the body and a weak saw-toothed keel along the belly. The fish is iridescent, greenish or grayish blue dorsally with a silvery abdomen and sides
  • This type of coloration ("countershading") is common in pelagic species of fish, as it provides a degree of camouflage in open waters. If viewed at close range, the Atlantic herring can be positively identified by its conspicuous cluster of small teeth arranged in an oval shape on the roof of its mouth. No other herring species possesses this distinctive circle of teeth.
Sea herring spawn in the open ocean and show in the later part of fall - another boon time for the saavy striper hunter.
 
#5 ·
Rock the mullet
September through mid October - Walk the beach in September and look for those v-wakes.
Atom Jr or Danny metal lip swimmer, pencil poppers, Little neck poppers, "bottle" plugs (also called "casting swimmers") in high wind or rough water. White or Blue and White.

 
#6 ·
Bunker - Menhaden
Liquid Water Slope Font Rectangle

Adult fish can filter up to four gallons of water a minute; and they play an important role in clarifying ocean water. They are also a natural check to the deadly red tide.
Bunker start showing in New Jersey around mid to late April and arrive in force in May. Tightly packed and sometimes enormous schools can be found throughout the summer into the late fall.
It goes by many names, including - bunker, pogy, mossback, bugmouth, alewife, and fat-back. The maximum size for the Atlantic menhaden is usually 15 inches (380 mm). The average size is smaller in the southern portion of their range, and largest in the north. They are bright silver, and have black spots extending horizontally from the gill plate to the tail, with the largest directly behind the gill plate. They are quite flat and soft fleshed, with a deeply forked tail. The edges of the fins and tail often have a yellowish hue. At sea, schools may contain millions of members. The start a migration north in early spring.
Water Fin Underwater Fish Tail

Peanut Bunker are juveniles and start showing in the early fall
Liquid Automotive lighting Eyewear Violet Tints and shades
 
#7 ·
CINDER WORMS:
May through August Peak June new moon phase.
The cinderworm aka clam worm is found near muscle and clam beds.
Warm water and High tides is what triggers the hatch.
High 60's and moon tides.
Somewhere between May and August. Peak for the week of the June full moon.
Its over in a few days and if the weather is lousy its missed entirely some years.
Although not a "baitfish," the cinder worm hatch is ideally suited for the flyrodder.
The exceptionally high tide of a new and full moon coaxes these seaworms out of the mud for about a week, and they are carried out with the tide.

Spin: Tie the cinder worm pattern as a teaser about 3 feet in front of a small swimming plug.

Terrestrial plant Thumb Flowering plant Nail Invertebrate
Insect Arthropod Art Pest Parasite
 
#8 ·
SAND EELS
Late May through early July, and again in November
Sand eels are a dominant forage on Long Island's south shore / east end.
Anecdotal evidence shows that they are becoming much more prevalent all along the eastern seaboard secondary to the decline in thier main predators the mackeral and the river herring.
Wood Quill Natural material Fish Soil
Gesture Twig Art Wood Glass
 
#9 ·
The beginning of June, Atlantic Mackerel find their way into the harbors and rivers. The Atlantic Mackerel is typically an open ocean fish and travel in schools that often contain thousands of fish. Mackerel reproduce from spring through summer, with more northerly fish spawning later in the season. The mid-Atlantic Bight and the Gulf of St. Lawrence represent the two greatest spawning grounds for this species. Atlantic mackerel can be found anywhere along the shore, from deep water to shallow bays. Anglers fish for them from boats or shoreline sites such as piers, jetties, bridges and beaches.

Fin Water Marine biology Fish Ray-finned fish
Fin Fish Tail Electric blue Ray-finned fish
 
#10 ·
American Eel

It prefers to hunt at night, and during the day it hides in mud, sand or gravel very close to shore, roughly 5 to 6 feet under.
Adult silver eel are believed to spawn in the Sargasso Sea during winter and early spring. After hatching, young eels move toward North America and enter freshwater systems to mature.
The U.S fish and wildlife service determined in 2007 that the Endagered species act protection for the american Eel was not needed.
LINK
Eels also can cover their entire bodies with a mucous layer, making them nearly impossible to capture by hand - "slippery as an eel" is more than just a figure of speech.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
NEEDLEFISH (aka garfish)

The fish lives close to the surface and has a migratory pattern similar to that of the mackerel. Belone belone is a common North Atlantic species that often swims in schools alongside mackerel.
From the North Sea garfish migrate to shallow waters in April and May. They spawn in areas with eel grass in May and June. In the autumn they return to the open sea. Atlantic needlefish are not large fish attaining a size of two foot long maximum length.

Rectangle Electric blue Fin Font Metal
Font Rectangle Metal Body jewelry Jewellery
 
#13 ·
fiddler crab/asian crab

some fly's are tied and fished for bass with regularity.
it is a hard ride to get a bass on a crab fly "and i honestly can say i have not gotten them on those few patterns i have tried. but you have to know when the fish are liable to feed on crabs to get a fish to take one. i only know how to fish an area with them and when to do so. on the flood they will be pulled out and in some cases an area with an eddy "yea, i know what your thinking jim" they have made some plugs (but larger ones and not what these fish will be expecting or feeding on here) they also make a variety of gulp and fly patterns. a kastmaster or a lead of some sort "to be frugal" with a fluoro leader of some length with one of these cast into an area where these bastages are being tumbled about is a great way to investigate where and when the bass are feeding on these staple roaches. a fiddler is imo, a better suited offering as asian crabs have a habit of jumping fiddlers grave as it will burrow in the fiddlers spot. these fiddler are what blackfish and bass feed on in certain areas close to the hudson and surrounding areas with structure of rocks/pilings/and wreckage.. if i were not working and could spend all my time fishing i woulda had this half way figured out *and i use half way reluctantly*:trink08:
1.ASIAN CRAB

2.FIDDLER CRAB



 

Attachments

#15 ·
PORGY
(Stenotomus versicolor)
In the Northeast the most common porgy is also known as "scup". This name is derived from the Narraganset Indian word mischcuppauog. Early settlers abbreviated the word to scuppaug and eventually shortened it further to scup.
Scup live in coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras . They travel in schools with the young coming close to land in only a few feet of water while the larger fish prefer deeper waters five to six miles from shore. Locally caught porgies are most abundant during the spring from April to June and again in the fall from October to January.
Porgies usually congregate in schools and they prefer smooth to rocky bottom. They are bottom feeders in the main, seldom rising far above the ground, the adults preying on crustaceans (particularly on amphipods) as well as on annelid worms, hydroids, sand-dollars, young squid, and in fact on whatever invertebrates the particular bottom.

Match with a Pearl colored wild eye storm shad

Vertebrate Fin Fish Art Ray-finned fish
Insect Hook Fish Fashion accessory Parasite
 
#16 ·
BABY BLACKFISH -

Blackfish are a cold weather daytime fish but stripers hunt them in rockpiles both day and night.
Tautog (Tautoga onitis) are territorial fish found in hard-bottom reefs and rocky environments from Nova Scotia to South Carolina, most commonly from Cape Cod to Delaware. The species frequents rock piles, bridge pilings, artificial reefs and old wrecks. It feeds on a variety of mollusks and crustaceans such as mussels, barnacles and crabs, which the fish crushes in its strong molars. A cold water fish, tautog migrate seasonally inshore and offshore.

BABY WEAKFISH
Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) occur from Nova Scotia to Florida and are most abundant from North Carolina through Long Island. Adult weakfish are often found near the periphery of eelgrass beds, where they primarily feed on shrimp, larger zooplankton, crabs, other crustaceans and small fish. In the estuary, adult weakfish occur in schools and frequent shallow sandy bottom areas with salinities above 10 percent. Estuaries provide feeding areas and spawning grounds for adult weakfish and are as important as nursery areas are for juveniles.

The Storm Wildeye paddletail lures will match baby weakies and baby black fish
Product Spoon lure Automotive lighting Fish hook Bait
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top