golden croaker

I had a friend from Rockport visit me this summer and he was telling me about golden croakers. He said they are fun to catch and very good eating.I have heard of croakers for bait but not eating. Could someone please tell me more about this fish? How to catch them,where to catch them and the availabiliy in the winter. Thanks in advancere

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/croaker/

as they get bigger they put up a great fight and taste absolutely DELICIOUS.

during the winter time jus using a piece of peeled dead shrimp off piers on or near the bottom is a never miss tactic.

a 3 lb croaker will hit like a 10 lb red and fight like you would not believe

I've fished off the piers at charlies pasture/station street on port aransas. The only croakers I've caught there were about 2 inches long. How about fishing for them out of a boat? Any suggestions on where to catch them? Thanks

the best pier to catch them was that pier behind the gas station right when you got off the ferry.

uhh a great place to catch'e, is the pier in the naval base in corpus. Filed up my ice chest with'em and had the greatest feast ever

Interesting...Why not just go after whiting?

Whiting are very good to eat too. I'm sure he wouldn't be throwing one of those back either. Golden croaker make a spawning run in early fall and maybe a little into November. Target the passes sort of like you would for flounder but just do it a month or so earlier. In the Galveston Bay area, we used to do really well around the first 2 weeks of Oct. right at Port Boliver just inside the ICW from the bay. I don't know if a lot of bay shrimp by catch is to blame for lower numbers, or the increase in using small croakers for bait, or if I just don't here as many folks fishing for them or what but, I surely don't hear or see boxes of big croaker like there used to be.

Hey folks, all I wanted to know was if and where croakers can be found in the winter. I am only there (Port A) Dec Jan Feb. I have a boat so I'm not restricted to the piers.

Big croakers are gone by then .

That's true but, the black drum should be starting to show up and that can really be a hoot!

Thanks folks. That was the info I was looking for.

If you have a boat just go across the channel from the harbor.
Many good spots over there.