How to Catch Saltwater Panfish on Your Family Vacation

Everyone loves the beach in the summer. It’s that time of year when families who don’t live on the coast flock to the surf, and many of them hope to get a little fishing in during their annual vacation. I often hear from readers and podcast listeners who don’t have easy access to saltwater, but still want to catch striped bass, big blues, giant flounders, and more.

But here’s the reality that many of them don’t understand: Summer isn’t the ideal time to catch these coveted fish in much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. These glamorous species are at their most abundant long before Memorial Day and while you’re eating Thanksgiving dinner. That’s annoying to hear for some people, especially those with kids who just want to bend a rod. The good news is that if you’re willing to change your goals, the summer months can provide some of the easiest fishing of the year for small but delicious fish.

From the Carolinas to New England, three members of the drum family invade the bays and waves each summer: croakers, kingfish, and spots. What these species lack in size they make up for in abundance, and if you can catch enough of them, you’ve got a darn good fishing boy. Catching them doesn’t require an in-depth knowledge of local spots or the perfect point in the tide, either. If you have a rod—practically any rod—and the right bait and tackle, you’re likely to have success on any stretch of coast in the middle of summer. Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know to get yourself (and the kids) into a saltwater panfish mess.

Saltwater Species for Summer Surf Fishing

Atlantic sea bass

The Atlantic croaker ranges from about Massachusetts to as far south as the Caribbean. Croakers get their name from the drumming or “croaking” sound they make to communicate underwater. These fish are light brown or silver in color with faint brown or gold spots. The world record weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces, but fish from 8 to 14 inches are most common.

Kingfish

These little guys are sometimes called “king croaker” and should not be confused with king mackerel, which grow large, live at sea and are also called kingfish. There are southern and northern varieties of kingfish and they often coexist in the lower northeast and upper mid-Atlantic. Kingfish are gold or silver with dark brown stripes and have longer bodies and dorsal fins than croakers.

Place

Also known as a “spot croaker,” spots get their name from the single dark dot just behind their gill plates. They also have bright yellow tails. They are found throughout the Gulf and Atlantic Oceans and rarely exceed 14 inches in length.

Saltwater panfish rods and reels

One of the best things about going after these smaller saltwater targets is that you don’t need any special rods or reels. Sure, a 9 or 10 foot surf rod can come in handy occasionally when you need to cast far, but that’s often not the case.

Read more: The Best Saltwater Fishing Rods for 2024

Likewise, most traditional surf gear will completely overpower these fish. So while they are effective, you won’t get to enjoy their fights. If you and your family are going from your inland home to the coast, any rod you would use for trout, bass, or catfish will do just fine for spots, croakers, and kingfish. Even in the surf, these fish are often thickest in the shallow wash or the first deep trough, rarely requiring a cast more than 50 feet to reach them. When I fish these fish on our boat with my son, I set him up with a 5-foot ultralight trout rod, and even the smallest croakers feel like trophies.

Saltwater panfish equipment

The nice thing about targeting kingfish, spots, and croakers is that one rig covers the bases for all three. They eat the same food, have similarly sized mouths, and hunt in the same areas. By far the most effective presentation is a high-low rig, which has a swivel on one end to attach to your mainline, a loop or snap on the bottom for your weight, and two dropper loops in the middle that present the hooks perpendicular to the mainline. One is positioned closer to the sinker (the “low”) and the other closer to the swivel (the “high”). This configuration presents bait in two parts of the water column and works just as well from shore as it does from a boat.

You can learn how to tie your own high-low rigsbut they are also easy to find ready-made in tackle shops. It is also common to see them with bright, pill-shaped floats for the hooks. These help to keep your bait off the bottom, but also act as a visual attraction, which is useful in choppy, sandy waves. If you tie your own rigs, remember that smaller and lighter is better. Fifteen-pound fluorocarbon is ideal, and you will want small hooks — either a number 8 circle hook or a size 12 long handle J hook.

As for your sinker, you want it to move, especially in the ocean surf. Pyramid sinkers are often used when targeting larger species because they hold heavier baits to the bottom. But spots, kingfish, and croakers like to roam the shallow break line like a pack of wolves. A bank sinker or casting lead With a round profile, it gets pushed around more by the waves, causing your bait to encounter more panfish hunting for a meal.

The best baits for saltwater panfish

Bloodworms

There is, without a doubt, no more powerful bait for croakers, spots and kingfish than fresh, live bloodworms. The smell of these long, ugly worms is simply intoxicating. But there is a downside. Bloodworms are one of the most expensive saltwater baits on the market. They can cost upwards of $30 a dozen – if you can find them at all.

Historically, tackle shops in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have stocked them year-round. But now, thanks to the decline of commercial worm-digging operations in Maine, supply can’t always keep up with demand. Plus, bait shop owners routinely complain that the average bloodworm is much smaller now than it used to be. Even if you only need a small piece on the hook, that $30 jar won’t last long if the bite is good.

Fish bites

Fortunately, there is a much more cost effective alternative to live bloodworms, namely: very close to be just as productive. Fish bites Bloodworms are synthetic strips that come dry in the package so they will never make a mess or stink up your tackle box. They feel almost like soft leather and have a mesh strip in the middle that helps them stay on the hook. When they hit the water the strips hydrate and release a baked-in bloodworm smell that really gets the fish fired up.

Personally, I rarely use anything other than Fishbites for these three species. Because one strip will yield over a dozen baits if you cut it, a bag can last most of the summer, and because the strips are so tough, I can catch several fish on one piece before I have to replace it.

Calamari

Although not as potent as bloodworms, frozen squid offers a happy medium between fake bait and expensive natural bait. It is much cheaper than bloodworms and even Fishbites in some cases. One squid can also easily provide a day’s worth of bait, as long as you cut it into small strips. Squid is also very tough, so it is harder for these little bait thieves to rip it off the hook. It does not have as strong a smell as Fishbites and bloodworms though, so you may need to change your rig more often.

Grass Shrimp

If you can get your hands on a pint of live grass shrimp, you’ve got yourself a panfish treat. It’s not that easy, though. Sometimes you’ll find a bait shop that sells live shrimp, but most anglers who rely on live shrimp fish their own shrimp in grassy areas of bays.

The next best alternative to live grass shrimp is frozen or dehydrated Grass shrimp, which you can find in most bait shops. I would say they are better bait than squid in terms of getting more bites, but they are also more delicate and easier to steal. Bottom line: buy more grass shrimp than you think you will need, because you will go through them quickly.

Mussels

Frozen or salted clams are also excellent baits for panfish, and they’re usually cheap. A quart will usually get you through the day, since you’re only using small pieces, but like grass shrimp, they’re easy to pull off the hook. The thicker, stiffer feet of the clams stay on longer, but the guts and bellies—despite being the smelliest—can fly off on a long cast and are quickly removed. So be ready to pounce on the first bite.

Finding Saltwater Panfish

The abundance of these small drum is seasonal throughout much of their range, coinciding with their annual spawning season. Water temperature also plays a role, as these fish thrive in warmer waters than other, larger species in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

When surf water temperatures peak in July through early October, you can find one or all of these saltwater panfish on almost any beach. If you’re looking for the best numbers, beaches with a pronounced trough or drop-off near the break at high tide are ideal. Tides are also important, with the outgoing tide often producing the best surf action.

Read more: The Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Raising an Avid Fisherman

But spots, kingfish, and croakers are everywhere in bays and along coastal rivers. (You can even find them in shallower, featureless stretches in some areas.) Any public jetty, bay beach, or bulkhead has potential in the summer, although the closer you are to an inlet the better. Inlets allow fresh ocean water to flow into the bay with each tide. This water is often cooler, and the fish know that the tidal current will stir up the sand and mud in the bay, exposing food such as worms and small crabs.

Boat anglers should focus on channel edges in the bay. During high tide the fish will move to shallower flats, but when the tide is out they will often move along a channel and feed in the tidal current. Any submerged rock banks or humps you find in the bay can also be full of fish.

Cooking saltwater panfish

Spots, kingfish, and croakers are all fantastic on the table—some would argue even better than their cousins, the redfish and flounder. Of course, just like bass and bluegills, you’ll need a lot of these saltwater panfish to make a meal for the whole family. That’s why the goal isn’t to just catch a few. You want to hit the motherlode.

Read more: How to Cook Fish: The Ultimate Guide to Everything from Oil Temperature to Batter Recipes

There are no special tricks to cleaning sea fish, but it is worth investing in a short filleting knife. 4 inch blade With enough flexibility, the job goes faster when you have to process a five-liter bucket full of jellyfish.

The flesh of all three types of saltwater panfish is mild and sweet. While it’s hard to beat a classic beer batter and deep fry, don’t be afraid to broil or sauté this fish. Fillets of larger fish can be grilled with the skin on for a “half shell” presentation often used to prepare red mullet.