The first one I remember catching was sightfishing off a dock at Lake West Okoboji in NW Iowa. It was 19.5" long. I was 13, and my grandparents had taken my cousin and my sister and I up there to vacation for a week. The resort had a weekly contest...biggest (longest) fish of the week would win a prize. Even though I was nervous all week as I watch guys fishing from boats bring back nice smallmouth bass and some northern pike, I ended up winning! I got a nice new Diawa spincast rod & reel.
Because of this, Freshwater Drum will always be special to me.
I did a little research trying to figure out how much the 26" fish in my picture would weigh. I never did find a good conversion, since I didn't measure its girth, just its length. But I did discover that even though the can grow to 40-50lbs (very rarely), my fish was a very large specimen and would likely have been at least 15 years old! Plus, I also discovered it qualifies me for an Iowa Master Angler Award. SWEEET!