World-Class Inshore Fishing in Calabash NC

Atlantic Croaker

Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias undulates) Fish Description

The Atlantic Croaker is a pink-silvery fish with oblique brown spots along its flat elongated body. It’s a species that thrives in brackish waters and its close relatives are the silver perch and the spot croaker. It has 3 to 5 pairs of tiny barbels under its chin, which they use to look for food. The fish is a bottom feeder and mainly eats crustaceans, worms, organic debris, mollusk, and small fish. 

Interesting Facts About the Atlantic Croaker

• The Atlantic croaker is a member of the drum family, all members of this family can make a sound but the Atlantic croaker is the loudest. The name croaker is derived from its ability to make noise by vibrating strong muscles against its swim bladder.
• The males use their croaking sound to attract females, but females also croak as a fright response. You will most likely hear their croaks if you catch one.

Size of the Atlantic Croaker

The Atlantic croaker is a small game fish. Its average size is 18 inches and usually weighs 1 lb. The biggest Atlantic croaker fish caught was 27 inches and weighed 8 lbs. This fish matures quickly with only ages of 1-2 years they’re considered as adults.

Habitat and Distribution of the Atlantic Croaker

There are plenty of Atlantic croakers in America. They’re a native fish that can be found mainly in estuaries, offshores, and coastal waters. As derived from their name, they’re common on the Atlantic coasts from Massachusetts to Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the best spots for this fish is the Chesapeake Bay which they visit every March through October. 

They thrive within depths of 26-266 feet, where the bottom is muddy. Its preferred temperature is 60.8 to 77°F. During the fall season, the adult croakers would visit continental shelves to spawn their eggs and stay there to overwinter and then return to their estuaries in spring and summer. 

How to Fish the Atlantic Croaker

Catching croakers is easy, but they’re still a famous game fish for both beginners and experienced anglers. Aside from being known for the sound that they make, they’re also good tasting fish. You need to maintain a nice depth of 25-30 feet to fly fish an Atlantic croaker since they’re bottom feeders. Look for good spots like channels or deep holes. The best time to fly fish for the Atlantic croaker is before or after high tide.

One thing you can do is to gather one of its favorite meals, the ghost shrimp, in the surrounding waters. Look for tiny holes in the area and pump out the shrimp, and then use them as bait for the fish.

Recommended gear to fly fish an Atlantic croaker is a 6-foot medium rod with a 12-20 lb test attached to a double hook bottom rig. Their mouths aren’t that big so the recommended hook sizes are 3 to 4. To help the rod stay at the bottom, use a 1-ounce egg weight attached to the leader line between the hook and bait of at least 1 foot.

If you can’t find shrimps, you can also use other natural baits like bloodworms, squids, and/or clams. Use lures that glisten a bit underwater to catch the attention of the fish, like an underspin and spoon. Anglers have also found success with bucktails.

Black Drum

## Black Drum (Pogonias Cromis) ## Black Drum Description The Black Drum is a fish in the Sciaenidae family. The Black Drum is also the largest fish of that family, including almost 300 species, including their popular cousin, the Redfish. They are known as drums or croakers due to the repetitive drumming or croaking sounds they make. They are black and or grey and have powerful jaws with strong teeth capable of crushing prey like shellfish and oysters. ## Black Drum Size The Black Drum's typical weight range varies considerably from 5 to 30 pounds but can reach a weight of up to 90 pounds. If you intend to eat your catch, you may want to release Black Drum over 15 pounds. As they grow larger, the meat is tough and more comparable to chicken than a flaky texture. Also, the flavor of the older fish is not as tasty as the smaller-sized fish. ## Black Drum Spawning Black Drum have mating calls that they use to seek out others during the spawning season, capable of producing tones that reach 100 to 500 Hz. Black Drum grow rapidly and reach maturity within the first 2 years of their lives and live to 50 years. The females can lay eggs every three days during the spawning season. Their spawning seasons vary due to location, spawning occurring in February and March in southern areas like Texas, and April to June farther north. ## Black Drum Habitat Black Drum typically prefers brackish waters and estuaries. The adults live closer to the saltier areas near the ocean. They can be found around an oyster bed and other areas with plentiful food sources. The juveniles prefer the less salty areas of the same estuaries with sandy bottoms. Black drum are extremely adaptable when it comes to temperatures and salinity and can be attracted to freshwater creek openings and extremely shallow water, but are also found in depths of up to 100 feet. ## Black Drum Fishing You will find the best Drum fishing is on shallow water, muddy flats, and oyster beds, but they can also be found near inlets, pier pilings, creeks and estuaries that make way inward. Most anglers also fish for the Black Drum in the spring around the spawning season. At this time, the fish school up and are easier to target. After the spawning season, the fish disperse and become much harder to target. ## ## Black Drum Bait and Lures The best bait an angler can use for Drum fishing is live bait because they are bottom-feeders. Live bait such as fresh soft crabs, mollusk, peelers crabs, sea clam, or crushed mussels are the preferred bait. Anglers like to use crab because it does not tend to get eaten by catfish and other bait stealers. If you are not using live bait, then choose very slow-moving jigs like bucktail jigs. It is also vital to use the correct weighting for the conditions to ensure that your bait is on the bottom. When fly fishing, most anglers prefer to use a 7- or 9-weight fly rod, leaning towards a 9-weight for throwing heavier flies and a little extra strength when pulling on fish that may be more than 20 pounds. You will want to present your fly on the bottom, and weighted black flies that get to the bottom quickly are best such as the Redfish Worm, Merkin, and Clouser Minnow. ## Distribution and Range The Black Drum has a wide range and extends as far north as Nova Scotia, down the whole Atlantic coast of the United States, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. ## Black Drum Regulations Check the state you are fishing in as they each have their own regulations, but you will find most at 5 fish per day between 14 and 24 inches long, with one allowed over 24 inches.