Click on the images to see a short .wmv video clip

“October Peanuts”

Location Spotlight:

   Island Beach State Park is one of New Jersey’s most valuable natural treasures. Bordered by the town of Seaside Park to the north and the Barnegat Inlet to the south, this 12-mile undeveloped barrier island is no doubt one of the most picturesque places on the Atlantic seaboard. The park is an ecologically sensitive area, where many threatened and endangered species find breeding areas on undeveloped dunes and pristine marshes.

But, it was not always planned that way. In the early 1900’s wealthy businessmen had plans drawn up to make this treasure an exclusive waterfront community of mansions - a playground for the rich. The Great Depression put an end to that project, and the land was subsequently purchased by the State of New Jersey with the intent to preserve its natural beauty forever.  

  To anglers, Island Beach is synonymous with striped bass. While the park is best known for its surf fishing, boat anglers find outstanding striper action within a few miles of its coastline and along the submerged outer section of the famous “North Jetty”. This jetty forms the northern border of Barnegat Inlet, and has been the scene of some classic bass and bluefish blitzes over the years. While the first half of this jetty is accessible to shorebound anglers, the outer half is submerged at higher tide stages and can only be fished by boat anglers. During times of peak tidal flow, billions of gallons of water flow over these rocks each hour, carrying all matter of marine life with it and creating the perfect ambush location for opportunistic stripers. On many days the weather conditions can make fishing this submerged structure difficult and dangerous, but for many local sharpies the potential reward is worth the risk.

It’s all about the peanuts

  On this particular day, a brisk early morning plug bite around the submerged jetty ended once the sun broke the horizon and the sky brightened enough to film the action. Faced with this situation, our hosts looked for a “Plan B”, and found it in a flock of working birds just up the beach. After a short run into choppy seas in their Parker 23SE, Bill and Darren found themselves in the midst of lots of marine life. Although surface activity was minimal, the actions of the gulls and gannets and the marks on the sounder revealed the presence of baitfish below the surface. A few pulls of a snag hook revealed that dense schools of small bunker, or “peanuts” were making their way southward. More often than not, peanut bunker are followed closely by gamefish, and this situation was no exception.

  Bunker, otherwise known as menhaden, pogies, or fatbacks, are one of the most important links in the Western Atlantic food chain. Almost every predatory gamefish that swims in our waters depends on this species for an energy-rich food source. Bunker spawn in the near-shore waters in the springtime. Their offspring find their way into the back bays, where they spend the summer growing and maturing. In autumn, these young bunker, often referred to as peanuts, stream though the inlets in large, dense schools, and move southward along the beachfront, with migrating and hungry striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish hot on their tails.

Livelining techniques

  There are several schools of thought regarding the proper way to liveline a peanut bunker in open water. One approach is to use the “snag and drop” method. This entails snagging a bunker with a large, weighted treble called a “snag hook” and simply letting that injured and struggling baitfish swim around until a gamefish decides to eat it. Another approach is to re-rig the bunker on a single 6/0 Octopus-style or circle hook and let it swim weightless and in as natural a manner as possible. A third approach, and the one that worked best on this day, is to rig the baitfish on a fish finder rig and drop it down to the bottom.

  There is no “proper” way to hook a bunker for livelining. Some anglers like to hook the baitfish lightly through its top, just in front of the dorsal fin. Others go through the top just behind the dorsal, and others like to go in though the bottom of the fish just forward of the tail. Still other anglers hook their bunker through the nostrils. Curiously, our hosts disagree on how to do it. Darren likes to hook ‘em just forward of the dorsal fin, while Bill goes through the nostrils. Each angler has bested countless stripers, blues and weakies doing it his own way, so pick your poison.

Regardless, it’s important to give a gamefish some time to swallow the bunker before setting the hook sharply; a few seconds usually suffices. Understand that even smaller fish, like those taken on this particular episode, will swallow the bait very quickly. If you’re missing pickups, try setting right away; you’ll be amazed at how quickly those fish take their prey into their gullets.

Back to the show…

  On this day, the schools of peanuts were not being harassed by bass or blues, but by weakfish. This came as a surprise to Bill and Darren, but a welcome surprise nonetheless. Weakfish stocks have plummeted over the past few years, and it was very encouraging to see large schools of them chasing bunker down the beach.

  After doing battle with a few dozen weakfish, our hosts decided to bring a livewell full of frisky peanut bunker back to the submerged jetty for a second shot at any resident bass that might have lingered well into daylight. Sure enough, the live bait was the ticket, and several small bass quickly fell prey to live peanuts presented directly over top of the submerged rocks. This is not an uncommon occurrence. Artificials often produce well during low-light periods and at night, but sometimes striped bass fishing during the mid-day hours is all about the livies!

Adaptability illustrated

  Truthfully, this show was intended to be about plugging the jetty rocks for striped bass. When that bite didn’t transpire on this particular day, it became necessary for our hosts to find action elsewhere. By keeping their options open and paying close attention to the signs around them, Bill and Darren were able to find other productive patterns and put together a good day on the water. Many great fishing days transpire exactly the way this one did; the primary plan doesn’t work out and the backup plan saves the day. When on the water, always keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to switch it up!