How far north are the croaks ?

[Mbrupb]

Anyone know what the northern reach of the croakers is so far ? I live in bmore and wanted to see if the high salinity and high water temps have brought them to the bb and north.

[Grilled]

haven't heard or seen any reports of croaker being caught at bb yet!

[Southerly]

last week, a friend at the mouth of the severn reported schools of 4" croaker thick enough to through a cast net on (which he didn't).

i caught some of those last week also. i thought they were little spot at first. but no 'spot' above the fin. i have no idea how these guys move relative to their keeper-size kin.

[moc]

I went to Bushwood which is south or N Beach. I only managed one keeper croaker and dozons of baby croakers (1or 2 inches) and perch. I was fishing during the day from 9am until 3pm.

[kayak456]

3 to 6 inchers are all over the south river. also a ton of menhaeden 6 to 8 inches.

[kevinfry]

I went to Bushwood which is south or N Beach. I only managed one keeper croaker and dozons of baby croakers (1or 2 inches) and perch. I was fishing during the day from 9am until 3pm.

I wondered how you did! Did you try crabbing??

[dson05]

There has been previous reports of croakers being caught randomly here and there. It seems to me that the main bay is producing larger fish. Even as far as north as Sandy Point State Park. The most consistent and plentiful reports (reading and my own experience) has been Point Lookout. I fished both PLO and Solomon's quite a few times the last few weeks.

Sandy Point has a very spotty report so it's hit or miss going there.

I havn't heard anything in between Sandy Point and Solomon's either.

I launched at Solomon's 3 times when PLO was too windy to launch from. The 2 or 3 times i fished solomon's produced a lot of toadfish the first trip, a couple perch and 10 croakers (10-13 inch) the second trip, and the third trip I caught 7 croakers ranging from 4" to 12".

The two times it was safe enough for me to paddle at PLO I came back in with my limit. I caught 30+ croakers each time and I was throwing 12 - 13 inchers back in hopes of bigger ones. Another plus is that I only caught maybe 2 or 4 toadfish, 1 skate and 1 ray total. It's always more pleasant fishing with out the nuisance species.

Oh and another plus is that spot is starting to show up at PLO as well. I've gotten 1 each time i've been out. Right now I think that the croakers are just dominating the water and not giving the spot really a chance to be active.

One last plus is that PLO is still producing stripers. I have seen a keeper striper caught each time I was there. Don't know exact size of the one caught the first week I was there but it was a 22" and a 30" the last time I was there. 1 was on spot and 2 of them (including the 30") was on bloodworm.

[MDFishin]

Caught my first Croaker of the season on the Choptank about a mile down from Cambridge yesterday

[Mbrupb]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will give PLO a try this weekend if the winds are reasonable. I have never been down that way what directions/magnitude of wind should I watch out for? Its a little bit of a drive for me and I would rather not waste my time driving there to find it is unfishable. Also im assuming when you say PLO you are fishing holes out in the main bay? or do you turn the corner and head inland, not sure if that area has a name. As always any info would be appreciated.

[dson05]

You can read my post in the Main forum. I posted my fishing report there by accident. It's title Croakers are Plentiful at Point Lookout.