Menhaden are an oily, high-protein filter feeder that travels in enormous schools, and just about every predator in the Northeast eats them. When big bunker schools are around, the biggest striped bass and bluefish in the area are usually not far behind. The juvenile menhaden of late summer and fall, called peanut bunker, trigger some of the best blitz fishing of the year.
Why they matter
Menhaden are a keystone forage species. A tight, nervous, dimpling school of bunker on the surface is one of the best signs in fishing. It means predators may be pushing them from below. Learning to spot bunker schools (and the bigger, boil-y disturbance of gamefish under them) is a skill that catches a lot of fish.
Where to find them
Adult bunker school in harbors, river mouths, estuaries and along the beach; you'll see them flipping and rolling on the surface. Peanut bunker pour out of the estuaries in fall, lining the beaches and back bays and getting hammered by stripers and blues.
How to get & use them
- Snag & live-line: throw a weighted treble (snag hook) through the school, snag a bunker, then let it swim on a circle hook near the predators. Deadly for big bass.
- Chunk: cut bunker into chunks and fish them on the bottom, or use them to build a slick.
- Cast net: the cleanest way to get a livewell full of healthy bait.
How to imitate it
When fish are locked onto bunker, match the big, tall profile:
- Large soft-plastic paddletails and swimbaits
- Pencil poppers and metal-lipped swimmers worked over the schools
- Big bunker-profile flies, a Deceiver, Hollow Fleye or Beast Fleye on a 10- to 12-weight
Tip When bass are gorging on adult bunker, downsizing rarely helps. They want the big meal. Throw a large profile and work the edges and bottom of the bait ball, where wounded and stragglers get picked off.