Croaker

Maryland Natural Resources Police yesterday seized 4,540 pounds of undersized croaker at the Maryland Wholesale Seafood Market in Jessup.The illegal shipment of fish, also known as hardheads, had been sent to three seafood vendors from two suppliers based in North Carolina, said Barbara MacLeod, a spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources.The Jessup vendors whose fish was seized included NAFCO, Reliant Fish Co. and E. Goodwin & Son.The vendors will not face charges or be fined for the shipments.

The Polvinale family, fishing out of Harrison's at Tilghman Island last week, was witness to how good the black drum fishing is when it got into a school that averaged better than 65 pounds.Forty to 80-pound drum are being caught regularly on drifted soft crab and peeler crab baits at Stone Rock and Poplar Island.Good catches of spot, white perch and croaker are awaiting anglers fishing the bottom at the mouth of the Choptank. Use crab for croakers but bloodworms for the perch and spot.Good blue fishing continues in the Middle Grounds and at the mouth of the Potomac.

The exciting fishing news of the week is kingfish. Anglers fishing the Ocean Pier last Sunday could barely keep their lines in the water without catching one. Believe me, it's not usually like this!The kingfish, also called sea mullet or whiting, is a hard-fighting little fish that rarely goes over 2 pounds. In fact, a 1-pound kingfish is a big one. But they are delicious and quite fun to catch.The trick to catching kingfish from the pier, or the surf where they often reside, is to use a small No. 6 hook baited with a piece of bloodworm, tipped with a strip of squid or mullet.

From the mouth of the Patapsco River to Chesapeake Bay's confluence with the Potomac River, fishing has been superb during the past week, and indications are that it will be hotter by the weekend.Rockfish, spot, croaker, perch, catfish, sea trout, flounder and increasing numbers of bluefish are available to anglers in the right locations at the right times.For upper bay anglers, rockfish catches continue to be very good for chummers from Belvedere Shoals to Snake Reef and along the edges near Poole's Island.

Kids, summer and fishing seem to go together best when there is more catching than waiting, and in Maryland's fresh and tidal waters there are ample opportunities for the former, from panfish above the fall line to spot, croaker and perch in the lower rivers and bay.And in each case, the fishing is simple and the teaching is easy.White perch, spot and croaker are smallish fish, but a foot-long perch or spot or a 14-inch croaker can elicit the wildest squeals of delight from a child handling a light rod for the first time.

Should you feel that need for speed, head for the Chesapeake Challenge this weekend off Kent Island and sate yourself.The Challenge is offshore powerboat racing at its best -- with speeds approaching 160 mph in the top classes -- and organizers say the two-day competition has grown to become the marquee event of the American Power Boat Association's national schedule."

Denny Brauer, a professional bass fisherman from Camdenton, Mo., has won plenty of big tournaments over the past 18 years, and last weekend he was a big winner again, even though he failed to make the cut in the $1 million Forrest Wood Open in Hartford, Conn.Brauer finished 12th in a field of 75 pros. But in the process he won the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Angler of the Year title and a position on a special-edition Wheaties box.Brauer, 49, will be the first pro angler featured on the cereal box, which, through the years, has showcased professional and Olympic stars.

ROCKFISH VIDEOThe traditional method of catching rockfish is trolling with heavy sinkers, wire line and fairly deep-running spoons and bucktails or drift fishing with live eels or peeler crab baits.A couple of avid largemouth bass fishermen -- Gene Mueller and Bob Denyer -- would like to interest fishermen in a different approach -- casting for stripers with spinning, bait casting or fly tackle.Mueller, outdoors editor of The Washington Times, and Denyer, a top guide with Life Outdoors Unlimited, have put together a video tape called River Rockfish, which explains where, when and how to try this different twist in striper fishing.

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.

COASTAL STRIPERSRockfish anglers in Maryland's coastal waters apparently could get a jump on the fishing season this fall if regulations proposed by the Department of Natural Resources are approved by the state legislature.Under the DNR proposals, the coastal season would be from July 15 to Nov. 30 for recreational fishermen, with a minimum size of 28 inches and no maximum length. The creel limit would be one fish per person per day.The season for recreational fishermen and charter boat fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay would not open until Oct. 1.A decision by the legislature is expected by Tuesday, and according to DNR's fisheries division, coastal fishermen would be able to start fishing immediately.