Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) are also called shad, bunker, shiner, pogey, and no telling how many other names. A saltwater fish, the Menhaden are extremely oily, which is why they have been commercially netted for so many years for the oil and meal that can be produced from them. They are very popular bait by many anglers and are used alive or as cut bait. They also are often ground up to use as chum.
Menhaden are plankton filter feeders and can only be caught with a cast net since they won’t bite a hook. Sometimes when you see bait “striking” or rolling on the surface, it is a school of menhaden making surface slurps of minute surface food items. Menhaden are also very intolerant of low dissolved oxygen and will die quickly in a poorly aerated live well. They also don’t do well for long periods of time in tightly confined spaces so larger live wells will serve them better.
