Westmoreland State Park Croaker

[nuke]

I want to put the kids on some croakers out of Westmoreland State Park. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[dgill99]

If you want to catch Croakers use the following "Fast Acting E-Z Crab Fishbites". This works way better than squid and one bait will last for several fish. Make sure that bait is right on the bottom and use circle hooks.

[rocksandblues]

they are very numerous this year. look for hard bottom. keep trying different depths till you find where they are biting that particular day. It will vary from day to day and even hour to hour. They are easy to spot in the sonar.

[Thoroughbred]

Small raw shrimp sprinkled and left to marinate in garlic and kosher salt at least overnight is the absolute best bait I have ever used for croakers. Peelers are good to but more expense. I use Kahle hooks with spinners (not a fan or circles myself).

Try to find a hard bottom like oyster bar but other will also produce. During the day start in 15' - 20' of water and move until you find them.

Good luck

[Jarosh]

There are so many small croaker out there now, they may just eat a bare hook. I've caught them on squid and clam necks over the past few weeks. I also second the fishbites, but I'm still working on geting rid of all my old frezer burned bait from last year.

[nuke]

I noted some on sonar in 13'. I drifted from 10' - 17' in the morning and caught several. Afternoon they were in the 16'-18' drift. Shrimp yielded the best bite for us. Mostly small ones only 10 - 12" mostly with a couple at 14". We caught around 60 all day and kept some. I've had better days with better sized fish, but it was fun. Thanks for the input.

[Thoroughbred]

Sounds like the day was a success and glad you had a couple good ones for the cooler.

[Scott]

If you want to catch Croakers use the following "Fast Acting E-Z Crab Fishbites". This works way better than squid and one bait will last for several fish. Make sure that bait is right on the bottom and use circle hooks.

I've never tried circle hooks for croaker.

What size do you recommend? Any particular brand or style work best?

[bookerreese]

I've never tried circle hooks for croaker.

What size do you recommend? Any particular brand or style work best?

a 1/0 circle will catch any fish in the bay from WPs & spots to 36" stripers

[DHoskins]

Small raw shrimp sprinkled and left to marinate in garlic and kosher salt at least overnight is the absolute best bait I have ever used for croakers. Peelers are good to but more expense. I use Kahle hooks with spinners (not a fan or circles myself).

Try to find a hard bottom like oyster bar but other will also produce. During the day start in 15' - 20' of water and move until you find them.

Good luck

What kind of garlic do you sprinkle them with, just a regular kitchen type garlic powder?