UTER
Photo: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Micropogonias undulatus
How to catch Atlantic croaker
Atlantic croaker feed in 58–86°F water and bite best at 66–80°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 10 waters; in October they are at their peak in The Outer Banks.
5 pts · trophy at 14"Feeds 58–86°FBest 66–80°FIn season nowChannel edgeBridgeDock / pilingsPass / inlet
About
The drum that croaks in your hand: a good pan fish from the bays and creeks, and the live bait the big trout and redfish in Texas and the Panhandle are caught on.
How to fish it
A small hook and a piece of shrimp on the bottom in the channels. Keep the medium ones in the well for the redfish.
What it eats
shrimpcut baitsmall jigs
Live bait for it
Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.BloodwormsA piece threaded on a #2 to 2/0 hook on a hi-lo or fish-finder rig — the striper, spot, croaker and white perch bait of the Chesapeake and the surf.
What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader20–40 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#1–4/0
Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
Braid10–30 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereNo size limit; general bag limit — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Gulf of Mexico
Mid & North Atlantic