Catching Big Croakers on the Chesapeake Bay
Bill, Buddy and I launched on 6/14/04 from Chesapeake Beach at 7:30 AM and headed southeast across the Chesapeake Bay via my boat. The water was flat as we left the launch until we crossed the mid Bay. From then on she was throwing some1 1/2’ to 2’ swells at us. The water temperature was 72.2 degrees with good celerity as we located our first shoal to fish.
The first croaker was landed by Buddy, within in the first 5 minutes after we started fishing. This fish was very chunky, 16” long, and put up an excellent fight on light spinning tackle equipment. Catching the rest of the day was slow, but we did go home with enough croakers for a few meals.
A major disadvantage to us was that the wind and tide were bucking each other. This made it very difficult to drift fast enough to tempt the fish into taking the baits. After searching different locations we found a shoal very close to deep water where the water speed overcame the wind supplying us with good drifting waters.
Before calling it a day we fished the western shore, but the water was dirty, and we didn’t catch any croakers. All and all it was a very enjoyable trip. Thanks Bill and Buddy for joining me.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Tom Hughes
