Doing some free diving this weekend in SoCo and I finally remembered to bring my camera. The first is of an unidentified fish that was schooled up at the tip of a jetty. They would come an inspect me if I sat still and showed a genuine interest in what I was doing. When I would move, they would follow me but would not venture too far form their "home area". Any ideas on them? They were about 3" - 4" long.

These are the myster baits that people have been calling herring for the past few weeks. They have been running the beaches for at least a month in looooong almost unending schools. They act like peanut bunker, but definately resemble herring. They were all about 3" long. Again, any thoughts?

I'd guess a cunner. Snag them on jigs at the canal sometimes.

Can't find a good picture... found a little better picture:
http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/WebImg/135/1208310941-t.jpg

Probably bergalls.

Cunner??? Pretty cool stuff.

Last ones. Here is a blackfish I followed around for a bit, a cunner I cornered under a rock and the triggerfish my friend's son caught. I had a couple pictures of a small fluke eating a cunner, but the pictures did not come out clear. :smash:

The small brown fish are not cunner. Plenty of those around that I photographed. These looked like small pollock maybe?

Maybe Whiting?I'll bet Fish eye knows, he'll chime in sooner or later and let us know.
Cool PICs Toby thanks for sharing BTW what Camera are you using?

bay anchovies are the silver bait fish

I saw the same bait in the first post this weekend at block. After talking to a local we confirmed it was pollock. I saw them in a vertical profile and looked like a long teardrop shape.

I saw some triggers at the west wall on Sat. Didn't think they came up here this early.

nice pics Toby!

Cool pics!

Toby,
There are some juvenile pollack in our waters. My son caught one the other night - around 6 inches long. Probably drawn in by the abundant sand eels. Years back we had some great inshore runs of harbor pollack in June. Damn things would keep hitting our barrel swivels - we'd be setting the hook and missing. Finally put a hook on the barrel and figuered out what they were.

DZ

cool Eben those are bay anchovies? very cool... The camera is an olympus waterproof. They have a newer model that is 12mp and only runs about 230 bucks. They are ok cameras considering they are waterproof but the shutter speeds are very slow. Takes a while to snap a pict... being underwater, that's tough.. a lot of blurry images... Toby, i got some good picts of the bay anchovies. They were schooling around me like crazy. will post them tonight.

TOBY,

I am catching the same fish in my minnow traps .
A few last year , more this year . A 1st I thought they are small tom cod . But after 2 years & no one is catching them . They look like Cod .
They die easy . If i throw them in with the mummies , they are the 1st to die .
But the Fluke slam them when I put them on my jig .:fishin:

I found some videos of pollock on You Tube by searching pollock fish

I don't think the herring-like fish are anchovies (aka rainbait or white bait).

Google "Fishes of the Gulf of Maine" and you can find descriptions of just about anything that swims our waters.

Look like juvie pollock... Definitely some kind of gadid, i think pollock is as good a guess as any from the pics. The other ones look like juvie sea herring.

bay anchovie
http://virginiastriperfishing.com/images/bay_anchovy.jpg

I adjusted Toby's pics and found a comparison pic.
Tough to tell.
Toby- More pics needed! :)

these are what I,m getting in my traps ..

They would come an inspect me if I sat still and showed a genuine interest in what I was doing. .

Yeah they are genuinely interested in whether you are dead or not so they can start picking away at you! :)