Atlantic Croaker fishing in Florida

Atlantic croaker are a bread-and-butter bottom fish along Florida's northeast Atlantic coast and the Panhandle, with fewer farther south. They school over sand and mud in the surf trough, along channel edges, around pier pilings and in the lower reaches of rivers and bays, and they bite best from spring into early summer and again through the fall. A rising tide with a little wave action stirring the bottom is ideal, and the bite often picks up at dusk and after dark under pier lights. Fish a two-hook bottom rig or a light Carolina rig with 1 to 3 oz of lead, 15 to 20 lb leader and small #4 to 1/0 hooks, baited with pieces of dead shrimp, squid or clam, or scented synthetic strips. Keep baits small because croaker have small mouths and pick at big chunks. Their croaking drumming is harmless, but the gill covers and dorsal spines are sharp, so grip them firmly behind the head. They are good eating and a favored cut bait for larger drum and sharks; check current FWC rules before keeping any.