It was overcast as our boat pushed through a slight chop as we slowly motored out of Pocahontas Marina. The weather service warned that thunderstorms were brewing up in the afternoon but Paul and I hoped to catch a few Croakers before the weather shut us down.
I love Croakers, especially when lightly fried and served on corn tacos with a spicy tomato salsa with chopped red onion and a sprinkling of cilantro. A friend at work also requested a few for herself and her mom, so Paul and I headed out on his boat into the South River to try our luck.
Paul picked up a few fish on his tandem rig on the first cast. I was still fumbling around with my gear as he dropped one fish onto the ice and threw another back into the water. I finally got my act together but Paul was hauling them in and had boated at least six fish before I even got one.
When the action slowed down, we hauled anchor and tried other spots. We fished in water that was between 12 to 17 feet and most of the bites seemed to come in water that was 10 to 14 feet deep. I usually found the school by casting long then slowly bringing the line back to the boat, watching where I hooked up, then casting back to fish that particular location. I wold fan the casts, starting right and moving left until I pinpointed fish.
Most of the Croakers we caught were small, but put up a good fight. I figure we threw back four times the number than what went into the cooler.
There are a good number of marinas around the South River and the boat traffic was amazing. At times there was so much wake action that in one area our boat was pitching around like it was riding out a storm! Big cruisers, sailboats, fishing boats and personal watercraft were constantly zipping up and down the channel. Paul told me this was normal and during a holiday this area was like a freeway for boats.
