Fishing in the back bay in Sea Isle is fun and relaxing. I confess I don’t always have a lot of luck fishing the backwaters. My fishing experience is usually limited to small sea bass, dogfish (sandshark), oyster crackers (toadfish) and the occasional‘eater’ in the form of triggerfish, flounder or bluefish.
While I might not always be reeling in the big one, getting out beside the water does sometimes reveal some surprises and interesting finds. I’ve been messing around with a tiny casting net. I can’t say I’ve caught much in the cast net but I have pulled up my share of peanut bunker. During one cast in Sea Isle’s Intercoastal Waterway (not far from Larsons / Ludlums landing) I landed two fish I could not identify with any certainty. Stripped and only about 4-5 inches long. Very interesting, not as interesting as the otters spotted in the bay, but interesting to me at least :-)
I took a picture of the two fish and released them safely back into the bay. I really wanted to find out for certain what they were. What makes these two fish so interesting is that everyone I showed the picture to not only had a different answer, but they were certain they were right. Juvenile striper, herring, mullet were all guessed to name a few. I’m still not sure. In some ways this fish looks like a combination of the three.
Any ideas? Please comment below.
While I might not always be reeling in the big one, getting out beside the water does sometimes reveal some surprises and interesting finds. I’ve been messing around with a tiny casting net. I can’t say I’ve caught much in the cast net but I have pulled up my share of peanut bunker. During one cast in Sea Isle’s Intercoastal Waterway (not far from Larsons / Ludlums landing) I landed two fish I could not identify with any certainty. Stripped and only about 4-5 inches long. Very interesting, not as interesting as the otters spotted in the bay, but interesting to me at least :-)
I took a picture of the two fish and released them safely back into the bay. I really wanted to find out for certain what they were. What makes these two fish so interesting is that everyone I showed the picture to not only had a different answer, but they were certain they were right. Juvenile striper, herring, mullet were all guessed to name a few. I’m still not sure. In some ways this fish looks like a combination of the three.
Any ideas? Please comment below.
That is a hard head mullet - very common down south in the Carolinas
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