Croaker

IN SAXIS, VA., RESIDENTS say they knew something big was up when the call went out this spring for anyone with a pickup truck that could haul fish.Big catches of fish and crabs are nothing new in Saxis. The Eastern Shore village, on Pocomoke Sound about six miles southeast of Crisfield, is as dedicated to harvesting bay seafood as Iowa is to growing corn.Still, people had to search back decades for a catch of "hardhead," or Atlantic croaker, to exceed what two watermen reportedly landed that day.Their haul of this popular sport and commercial species was too big to empty from the net all at once.

State officials say they are investigating a "very large" fish kill in the Chesapeake Bay, but suspect cold temperatures killed them, rather than any water-quality problems. An estimated 2 million fish have been reported dead from the Bay Bridge south to Tangier Sound, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which investigates fish kills. The dead fish are primarily adult spot, with some juvenile croakers. Agency spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus said bay water quality appears acceptable, and biologists believe "cold-water stress" the likely cause of the fish kill.

At early evening the boat swung to anchor along the hard edge off Barren Island, where the Chesapeake Bay bottom drops away quickly from 10 to 50 feet and croaker, spot and sea trout often feed in the midst of summer.The last of the spring-summer seasons for rockfish had ended Sunday, and a long run down the bay for bluefish had been disappointing, with only a handful of two-pounders to show for the effort.But in the evening croaker usually bite hard and often, and the sharp edge off Barren Island seemed an excellent place to fish and snack as the last of the breeze went out of the day and the bay lay down flat for the run north to the Severn River.

The 65 striped bass tagged Diamond Jim proved as elusive this summer as William Donald Schaefer's manners, a winning Orioles season and Rush Limbaugh's Viagra prescription. But even though no one won $25,000 by catching a neon-green tagged rockfish during the "Maryland $1,000,000 Fishing Challenge," 135 anglers reeled in other tagged fish to qualify for the prize drawings at 10 a.m. Saturday at Annapolis City Dock. They will be playing for $1 million (winning odds 1 in 65), one of two pickup trucks, a motorboat and trailer and a bass boat and trailer.

RIDGE -- As the Miss Valerie II ran through the darkness and rounded Point Lookout early last week, a trail of luminescence spread across the wake, a pair of shooting stars sped toward the horizon and, well to the south, a cloud bank sparkled with heat lightning.But the light show of a hot summer evening on the lower bay where the Chesapeake mixes with the Potomac River lacked the intensity of the fireworks that had started a couple of hours earlier, just before sunset."I have been fishing this part of the bay for a lot of years, but I never have seen croaker like these," said Don Martin, as he stood along the gunwale, catching a bare hint of warm breeze after a hot evening of bottom fishing.

A bill that would allow smaller size limits for croaker (hardheads) in Maryland waters has been heard by the House Environmental Matters Committee and received support from the Department of Natural Resources and the Maryland Charter Boat Association.The bill, which also would put a daily limit of 20 fish into force, calls for a decrease in size limit from 10 inches to 8 inches for recreational fishermen. The bill, sponsored by Del. Samuel Q. Johnson III of Wicomico, has not passed out of committee.

Freshwater trout and white perch continue to provide the best fishing action for bank fishermen, and croaker continue to surprise tidewater anglers on the lower Eastern Shore.According to the Department of Natural Resources, medium to large croaker are being taken on hook and line from northern Tangier Sound to Upper Hooper's Island.The early arrival of croaker seems to coincide with the early movements of many tidewater species which have been influenced by the early warming trend this spring.

Rockfish, it seems, get most of the attention as species of fish successfully restored after decades of overfishing in bay and coastal waters of Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states. However, there are indications that flounder, croaker and sea trout also are rebounding from years of over-exploitation.Croaker, of course, have been larger and more numerous in the Chesapeake Bay than has been the case for many years, and state fisheries biologists say the repeated annual abundance may ensure a strong future.

"Bob," said Capt. George Pernant, "I want to know where all the croaker go and why they don't come back when they are legal size."Deale used to be the croaker capital of the Chesapeake Bay. People used to come down here in the afternoon and fish until after midnight catching croaker. What happened to them?"I said, "George, that would be a good project for the DNR (Department of Natural Resources), although most of them probably wouldn't know. But I'll ask them."Each year, we become inundated with 3- to9-inch juvenile Atlantic croaker, or hardheads, that enter the bay in the spring and torment anglers bottom fishing for perch or other bottom-dwellers.

Warm temperatures and high salinity in Chesapeake Bay have made it a good year for recreational fishing, and also are bringing some unusual species into Maryland waters."

If the man of your house dreams of spending Father's Day with a fishing rod in hand, you may have to put the steaks back in the freezer Sunday night. Consider his luck as the opportunity to try fish you might not usually find on a restaurant menu or in the seafood case: freshwater perch, bluegill, croaker and wild trout. The first step to cooking them (after they're cleaned, of course) is to recognize many of these fish are more delicate in taste and texture than the salmon or tuna you may be accustomed to throwing on the grill.

Sun worshipers heading to the beaches in Ocean City this weekend can expect to find fewer dead fish than early this week, when thousands washed ashore after a massive fish kill. Since Tuesday, public works crews driving backhoes have been hauling away truckloads of rotting Atlantic croakers killed by a sudden change in water temperatures. The last of the fish are expected to wash ashore over the next few days, according to officials with the Maryland Department of the Environment. Roughly a million of the pinkish croakers - ranging from 6 inches to 2 feet long - started landing on beaches from Delaware to Virginia on Saturday.

THIS JUST IN - the attempted rescue of a great horned owlet, as related by my faithful correspondent, retired state biologist W.R. "Nick" Carter 3rd. On a walk through the Eastern Shore woods that they had let grow up from a cornfield they bought 25 years ago, Carter and his wife heard the dogs barking up ahead. On the ground, infant ear tufts erect, hissing and clacking his beak like a string of ladyfinger firecrackers, was a young owl. Apparently flightless and standing only about as high as a football on a tee, he was dauntlessly holding the hounds at bay. A high wind had probably blown it from the nest.

Wistful bugle notes and the dimming refrain of an echoing gun salute crowd the mind - when each in his own way on this ceremonial Memorial Day remembers courageous, assertive men from past encounters who went off to war ... and never came back. They were self-recruited, motivated by an intense desire to do what was right, leaving farms, villages, cities, factories, colleges and high schools. Hills, dales, riverbanks, mountainsides and prairies. Each contributed in an unselfish way and too often gave their life for freedoms held dear.

Warm temperatures and high salinity in Chesapeake Bay have made it a good year for recreational fishing, and also are bringing some unusual species into Maryland waters."

Rockfish, it seems, get most of the attention as species of fish successfully restored after decades of overfishing in bay and coastal waters of Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states. However, there are indications that flounder, croaker and sea trout also are rebounding from years of over-exploitation.Croaker, of course, have been larger and more numerous in the Chesapeake Bay than has been the case for many years, and state fisheries biologists say the repeated annual abundance may ensure a strong future.

Upper Chesapeake Bay: Bluefish, although small, have made their way above the Bay Bridge. Numbers are still low, but larger schools of 2- to 3-pounders have been cruising the mouth of the Severn River for a few days and should continue to move north. Oyster lumps off the Patapsco, Magothy, Gibson Island, Chester River and Kent Island are good for white perch, spot and catfish. Bay Bridge pilings also good for perch. Croaker catches have been sporadic at Belvedere Shoals, Podickory and Love points.

Last week, while headed south toward the mouth of the Choptank, the alarm on the fish finder sounded repeatedly while crossing Tolly Point Bar. With our minds set on catching black drum at the Stone Rock that day, the location was marked and a mental note made to return later to the mouth of the Severn River.On Father's Day, with my two sons, a dozen jumbo bloodworms and a cooler filled with enough sandwiches and sodas to feed and water a youth league baseball team, the fish finder again was marking large numbers of fish close over the old shell bottom at the mouth of the Severn.

Upper Chesapeake Bay: Bluefish, although small, have made their way above the Bay Bridge. Numbers are still low, but larger schools of 2- to 3-pounders have been cruising the mouth of the Severn River for a few days and should continue to move north. Oyster lumps off the Patapsco, Magothy, Gibson Island, Chester River and Kent Island are good for white perch, spot and catfish. Bay Bridge pilings also good for perch. Croaker catches have been sporadic at Belvedere Shoals, Podickory and Love points.

RIDGE -- As the Miss Valerie II ran through the darkness and rounded Point Lookout early last week, a trail of luminescence spread across the wake, a pair of shooting stars sped toward the horizon and, well to the south, a cloud bank sparkled with heat lightning.But the light show of a hot summer evening on the lower bay where the Chesapeake mixes with the Potomac River lacked the intensity of the fireworks that had started a couple of hours earlier, just before sunset."I have been fishing this part of the bay for a lot of years, but I never have seen croaker like these," said Don Martin, as he stood along the gunwale, catching a bare hint of warm breeze after a hot evening of bottom fishing.