Baitfish
by Skip DeBari
Photos by Mark Lewchik
Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture
The following is a list of baitfish throughout the season; what they look like, where and when to find him, and what imitates them the best. It often pays to match the hatch, but other factors will influence lure selection: depth, castability, current and wave strength.
SHRIMP: available year-round ? 1-2" translucent tan or olive. Can be found in tidal creeks and flats, rivers, around docks, marshes, and salt ponds. When baitfish are scarce in the early spring, they are an important food source. Weakfish love them. Lures: flies, small jigs, teasers, and 3 in. Minnow plugs.
ALEWIFE AND BLUE BACK HERRING: 6-10" flat sided baitfish with a white
belly and a blue green back, may have a violet or brassy color to the sides.
Arriving in March before the stripers (larger Thames bass, already there,
will be after them in April), peak fishing is in mid- May and ends in early
June (late June in far up-river locations). The first big baitfish attracts
big bass and large schoolies. Alewifes arrive first and spawn in small
streams. Blue backs (look the same) come in May and spawn in the rivers.
Herring can be found in the Connecticut, Thames and Housatonic rivers around
structure: Dams, bridges, rocks, creek mouths and bars (Smith Point). They
are also found in small streams and ponds that empty into rivers and the
ocean. Roaring Brook, 8 mile river, Bride Brook, Farmington river, Salmon
River, Pattagasset river, Narrow river, Martha's Vineyard ponds and many
others contain herring. Too much rain can ruin the river fishing, but
attract fish to the small streams. Unless there is some water depth, the
stream fishing will be limited to nights and may be poor during the full
moon. Herring move into deeper water as the day progresses. Lures: for big,
fast-moving water: Yellow, white or blue Gibbs pencil and polaris poppers, 9"
slugos, gags poppers, 7"minnow and metal lip swimmers, bucktails and 6" sassy
shad plastic jigs. For small streams: Metal lip swimmers (round lip and
danny trolling plug), zara spook, rapala super shad rap, slugos, minnow plugs
and sassy shads. You can catch live herring with small gold hooks, shad
darts or willow leaf spoons. You can also net or snag them in some
locations. Check with the state DEP for current regulations. Fish them
where you catch them, use as fresh chunk bait, or transport in a live well to
the coastline. Look/listen at night for breaking fish. Gulls will often be
found in large numbers hanging around near herring.
SILVERSIDES: 2-5" in the spring, 3-6"in the fall; they have a white belly,
chrome midline, and a yellow or olive top (several species). A few are
around in the early spring, they become numerous in May and June and are
around thru the fall. The main summer bait, if bunker and sand eels don't
stay around. Found throughout the coastline during the year, they spawn in
tidal marshes in May and June. Often in tight schools and can be seen
jumping during the day. Slow-moving individuals can be seen near the surface
at night. They often replace the daytime bait, such as baby bunker. Lures:
3-7" minnow plugs, teasers, small pencil poppers, poppers, small buck- tailed
or plastic jigs, tins and small metal lip swimmers.
WORM HATCH: 1-3" red, pink, orange or charteuse worms. New and/or Full Moon tides and warm days produce night or afternoon hatches with the outgoing tide. From mid-May thru August hatches are possible in salt ponds and tidal creeks. Ash creek, short beach, western Old Saybrook, Niantic river, Mystic, Quonny pond, Great Salt pond, Ninegret pond and Martha's Vineyards ponds all MAY have worm hatches. Bass to 20 lbs., hickory shad and weakfish love worms. Fish are hard to fool, due to the abundance of worms. Fishing the start or the end of the hatch is best, less bait. Lures: worm flies rigged as a teaser.
SAND EELS: a thin, eel like baitfish, 2-4" long in our area, 3-8" at the
Cape; with a white belly, silver sides (sometimes pink), and a brown, black
or olive top. They arrive in late May, and stay anywhere from a few days to
mid-July (1st and 2nd weeks of June is peak), often returning again in late
Oct- Nov. Sand eels may stay in the same location for a long time. There is
often a flurry of activity at sunset, when the sand eels burrow in at the
waters age. Some sand eels remain near the water surface at night and bass
grub for them in the sand also. Moonless nights and the outgoing tide are
best. In the a.m., sand eels come out of the sand and head offshore before
Sunrise. Look for sand eels being eaten by birds at the waters edge. You
often scare the bait out of the bottom when wading. Sand eels can provide
great surf fishing for larger and smaller bass and weakfish, but if they are
small and numerous, fishing can be difficult. Now mostly at the Cape and the
Islands (Lobsterville and State Beach, Block Island and Nantucket), some
local areas can/do have them for short periods of time: Bedfords Point,
West Haven Sand Bar, Old Saybrook Town Beach, the Old Lyme area, inside
Napatree by the harbor, Quonny pond and the Narrow river area. Lures: needle
fish, 3-5" olive, black, white, yellow or pink minnow plugs (hellcat or
5"mambo or yellow rebel; 7" at Cape and B.I.), teaser flies and Red Gills,
thin tins and diamond jigs with red or green tubes, whiptails, 3/4 oz. Red
alou eels, jigs.
SQUID: 4-10" opaque- pearl white, pink or reddish brown with 10 tentacles.
They are around the last week of May through June. They spend their days on
the offshore reefs and move into the shallows at night, where they are
attracted by dock and bridge lights. The Niantic river, Watch Hill Coves and
reefs, Deep Hole, Point Judith piers, Newport, Martha's Vineyard and Block
Island have squid. They are around more often than you think. Lures:
reverse atom, pink, pearl or light blue minnow plugs, needle fish, orange,
pink or charteuse poppers, small metal lips, bucktails and squid fly teasers.
ADULT BUNKER: 8-13" flat sided bait with white/silver sides (gold or
violet hue) and an olive, black or electric blue top. They arrive in mid-May
(peak in early June and Oct-Nov), start to thin out before July and return in
Sept-Nov. The adults can hang around later in the fall than the babies do.
If they stay around they will attract larger bass and blues to the area.
Housatonic river - rte 1 Bridge and piers, Caswell Cove, Gulf Beach area,
West Haven Sand Bar and bridges, Clinton Harbor, Old Saybrook R.R. bridge and
Great Island/Blackhall river, Niantic river, Norwich Harbor, Watch Hill
harbor, West Wall, and India Point can hold bunker. The bait moves up inside
harbors at night. Look/listen for baitfish flippin on the surface. Lures:
snag some for live or cut bait, white or yellow 6-8" metal lip and minnow
plugs, large poppers and pencil poppers, darters and bottle plugs, sassy
shad. Fish can be fussy/full if there is a lot of bait. Lure fishing is
often better after dark.
SNAPPERS: 3-7", flat sided and silver/blue are around in August and Sept. Often found chasing silversides during the daylight. Lures: 2oz blue or white pencil poppers and 7" blue/silver redfins or rebels.
BABY BUNKER: young 3-6" bunker are around from August to early Nov., with
the peak fishing from mid-Sept till mid-Oct. Three years ago, I saw them
once or twice at Watch Hill and Napatree. 2 years ago they were in the rivers
and ponds and along all the beaches at one time or another. Last year they
started early in August and Sept. Then the storms pushed them into the
rivers and there they stayed. They can provide some of the best surface
action for bass and bluefish. Look for dark clouds of bait, jumping fish or
nervous water. The bait may move into harbors and ponds, or deeper water at
night. If you find them washed up on the shoreline, there was a blitz.Lures:
yellow, white, chrome or blue small and medium metal lip and minnow plugs
(storm shallow mac, crystal minnows), poppers, pencil poppers, sassy shad,
small bottle and darter plugs, bucktails, wide tins, zara spook, bullet
needle fish and wide body flies/teasers.
MULLET: 4-7" cigar shaped fish with a white/silver body and a gray/blue
top and purple shoulders. Early Sept to mid-Oct. Move west, hugging the
shoreline, with the moon tides or after a cold front. Look for V wakes or
the baitfish being chased. A very important bait in Long Island and New
Jersey. Daylight bait: look for action at first and last light. It can be
hard to fool the gamefish on calm days. Harkness and Ocean Beach, Napatree,
Watch Hill Cove, Weekapaug Cove and Quonny Rocks. Last couple of years has
seen a blitz of 20-40 lb. Fish at Watch Hill, early to mid- Oct. Bigger in
size than the baby bunker, they attract larger bass. Lures: white or blue
5-7" minnow and metal lip plugs, pencil and super strike poppers, small
bottle plugs, tin and jigs.
ANCHOVIES: 1-2" translucent with spots, silver midline, white stomach at the head and an olive or tan top. Appear in Sept and Oct in R.I.and eastern CT, they are small and numerous and don't hold formation well in dense schools - reddish brown "soup". DAYTIME fishing for small bass and little tunas. Hard to fool the fish, the fly rod is best. Not my favorite bait! Lures: white, yellow or tan flies/teasers, small poppers, jigs, narrow tin and 3-4" minnow plugs.
ATLANTIC SEA HERRING: 8-14" medium bodied, silver with a blue/green/black
top. Late Oct thru Nov. They migrate East to West along the eastern CT/R.I.
shore and along the Islands and Montauk/North Fork. If they come in, great
fishing for large late season fish. Look for gannets dive bombing. Lures:
DAYLIGHT fishing with cut bait, white or blue 6-8" metal lip and minnow
plugs, large poppers and pencil poppers, bottle plugs, jigs and 10"
fin-s-fish.