Plastic shrimp imitations land saftly in shallow water, so are a good choice for tailing drum.
Eventually, I worked it in, and released my first fish to fight again, and again and again in fact. After all, black drum can live 50 or more years. A drum that old can weigh somewhere between 100 and 150 pounds. The largest one on record weighed 146 pounds. The Florida record is 93 pounds, but Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay once yielded a black drum that weighed 111 pounds. The largest recorded by a sport angler in Texas is 78 pounds. However, most that I’ve caught, or seen caught on a shallow flat weigh from four to 10 pounds. The average Florida female spawning black drum weighs just over 13 pounds.
In most Atlantic waters, red drum will outnumber their black cousins. But both species tend to congregate in the largest schools inshore during the coldest weather.
There are places—Savannah, Georgia marshes, the Mosquito Lagoon and Wilmington, North Carolina come to mind—where schools of both species school up and cover acres of shallow flats. Offshore aggregations usually mean spawning fish. And inshore schools packed into the shallows aren’t up there to share body heat. The schools are there to eat. Again, these are cold-blooded animals that evolved to withstand, or even enjoy cold water. They’re up shallow because the cold or some other variable drove large quantities of prey onto the flats. Usually they’re feeding on shrimp hibernating in dark mud, or on mullet feeding or getting warm on muddy or algae-covered flats.
Top Shallows
Black drum inhabit Florida estuaries as juveniles and occasionally move into “near-shelf” waters as adults. Most drum are caught on Florida’s Atlantic coast from Volusia to Martin County. The Indian River’s sand bars, flats and spoil island dropoffs from Ft. Pierce to Stuart offer excellent drum fishing.
Sight fishing for true giants is best in the shallows just north of Cape Canaveral’s NASA Causeway in both deep and shallow water during spawning season. Also, check the flats all along the Intracoastal Waterway in that region. On Florida’s Gulf coast, I’ve caught lots of drum south of Cedar Key in both the Chassahowitzka and Homosassa rivers, especially around shallow oyster bars. If you don’t insist on catching drum by sight, Tampa Bay bridges hold some of the biggest black drum in the state. For smaller drum, try the flats around Tampa Bay.
Texas anglers looking for a switch from trout and reds can look for spawning fish from February through April, though some spawning also occurs in June and July. Large drum gather in schools before spawning. The best drum fishing, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, is from Corpus Christi to Brownsville on the lower Gulf coast, and summer months seem to be best for the extreme shallows. Tailers can be stalked on the shallow flats of Laguna Madre.
According to Louisiana fisheries biologists, black drum spawn in the evening, from 7 to 10 p.m. when water temps are between 59 and 75 degrees. Full and new moon phases seem best. During pre-spawn, mature black drum form large schools in offshore waters. After spawning occurs, look for the fish to return to shallow coastal bays, rivers and creeks.
In Mississippi waters , I’ve caught drum near Pascagoula, Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis. Other favorite drum-fishing sites include the Chandeleur Islands off Biloxi and some of the closer islands, including Cat Island and around the Louisiana Marsh several miles off Bay St. Louis. Live shrimp is still my favorite bait for Biloxi Bay and the Louisiana marsh. Around the islands, I catch them on jigs. —M.B.
Like most scions of Scianidae, black drum can be skittish, but in cold weather they can get so engrossed in grubbing the bottom that they swim right up to you. On another wading trip, Benson claims that he looked down and saw a tail tip crease the surface. Believing it to be a mullet, he ignored it and continued casting. A few seconds later, he saw a flash as the “mullet” rolled over on its side. He reeled in his line, flipped a plastic shrimp to it and caught an 8-pound black drum.
Although redfish are arguably America’s most popular temperate gamefish, nowadays anglers accept the added challenge of getting their scent- and vibration-feeding cousins to take an artificial. I state without confessing it that I’ve had better results with fresh shrimp. However, since I cast artificial lures most of the time, with some flies mixed in, most of my flats drum are caught that way. Flies and lures with rattles, and bristling, vibrating materials such as bucktail work most effectively.
Though most black drum encountered on flats are well under 10 pounds, I witnessed Mark Benson take a 30-pound giant black with a fly rod. Another friend, Wallace Slater of Oak Hill, Florida, was fishing along a narrow stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway near his home on a cold winter day and spotted a giant drum swim onto a sand bar. Wallace cast to the fish with a 12-pound spin rod, and the 64 1⁄2-pounder took a 1⁄4-ounce, Crazy Eyes jig. During the fight, Dick said that he had to wave at passing yachts to stay clear and give them fighting room.
Sight-fishing Tips for Winter Schools
When casting to a school of feeding drum, cast to the edges of the school to lessen the chance of spooking the whole lot. This approach is imperative when fly fishing, lest you line the entire aggregation and send them stampeding off the flat. Also, when a fish on the edge of the school grabs your lure, you stand a better chance of keeping it away from the school. I’ve often caught multiple fish from one school this way.
Choose fluorocarbon leaders in 20- to 30-pound-test range to prevent the drum’s rough scales from chaffing your line during long fights.
Contrary to popular opinion, black drum will readily take a fly. The most popular color is black, but any crab or shrimp imitation will work well, particularly if it is weighted and bounces along bottom. I prefer an 8-weight fly rod, but if you’re targeting oversize blacks, choose a heavier stick. They fight doggedly, and you’ll appreciate the leverage.
When using spinning or conventional tackle, use medium to medium-heavy tackle with 10- to 17-pound test line, and a 20- to 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. Top artificials include soft plastic baits such as the DOA Shrimp, Exude jerkbaits, or similar scent-injected plastic baits. Also, small jigs are very effective. Bonefish skimmer jigs in black, brown or tan are particularly good. Black drum will even strike spoons at times. For black drum that are not receptive to artificials, use live or fresh, dead shrimp. Small crabs, sand fleas and even cut mullet are also effective. With bait, circle hooks will prevent gut-hooking.
Fly fishers can often outfish their light-tackle counterparts because flies closely imitate small crabs and shrimp.
Stealth is very important when fishing for black drum in skinny water. Approach fish quietly, whether poling, using an electric motor or wading. When you locate tailing fish, cast conservatively and avoid erratic retrieves, and as you would with any flats fish, try not to “charge” the fish with your lure.
