286 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
power boat used in operating the net. Good catches are made by this method when fish are plentiful . 
Some of the advantages of drift-net fishing are as follows: The outfit is comparatively inexpensive; 
the boat, with its gear, can be moved from place to place without delay; a crew of two or three men 
may operate it successfully; and fishing is done directly from the power boat, therefore requiring 
no dories. 
The early run of croakers sometimes is so great that markets are glutted for a time and the 
price falls to such an extent that it is not profitable to ship the fish. At such times the croakers 
are either turned out of the nets or kept entrapped in the hope that the market may rise within a 
few days. Such a glut fortunately does not occur often, and when it has occurred it has been of 
short duration. The large catches are made during the height of the shad season and for that 
reason are not looked upon with much favor by the pound-net fishermen. 
Losses sometimes are suffered by fishermen because the large catches can not be disposed of 
profitably when the prolific spring run occurs. During this time the fish often are shipped in car- 
load lots to distant markets, which in turn become glutted. The croaker is a good food fish, and 
because it is caught in abundance early in the spring when the weather is cool it would appear that 
the distribution could be extended to new and even more distant markets, where at present it is but 
little known and where cheap and wholesome fish are scarce. During 1921 and 1922 the wholesale 
price ranged from $4 to $15 per barrel during most of the season, and the retail prices ranged from 
5 to 20 cents a pound, the general average being about 12)/£ cents. 
Fig. 166 .— Micropogon undulatus. Young, 34 millimeters long 
The croaker, as already stated, usually appears suddenly in March or April in great abundance , 
and the first catches are made with pound nets operated near the entrance to the bay. Thereafter 
the fish appear to migrate gradually up the bay, as the earliest catches at some distance from the 
entrance always are made somewhat later. The croaker is common throughout the summer in 
the shallower shore waters. As cool weather arrives, late in September and in October, the fish 
become scarce along the shores. At this time, however, large fish are abundant in the deeper 
waters of the lower Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James Rivers. No adult croakers are 
taken during the winter by the commercial fishermen in their restricted operations, and, as indicated 
elsewhere, no large fish occur in our collections, which were made at that season. It is quite certain, 
therefore, that this fish, like many others, leaves the bay upon the approach of winter. 
The names “croaker,” “crocus,” and “hardhead” are used interchangeably throughout the 
Chesapeake region. Small fish, less than 10 inches long, are called “pinhead croakers.” In the 
markets of the Chesapeake region the croaker is on sale from late March until late November, and 
because of its abundance and low price it is one of the most popular of all the food fishes. In 
quality it is generally considered inferior to the spot, squeteague, and others. Some persons, how- 
ever, prefer it to almost any other species. The croaker is most abundant in the southern part of 
the bay, decreasing gradually northward, and above Baltimore County, Md., it is taken only as a 
straggler. 
The size of market fish usually ranges from one-half to 1 % pounds. At times large quantities 
of “pinhead croakers” (fish 7 to 10 inches long) are caught, and these generally are most common 
in the spring. On September 18, 1922, a set of two pound nets at Lynnhaven Roads, Va., caught 
1,200 pounds of croakers, among which were many fish weighing 3 pounds or more, which is an extraor- 
