Read an Article about a large dieoff of these fish in Arkansas. Not being familiar with the drum I read several articles about the fish. It seems that some anglers look at the fish as a rough fish not worth eating while others give it high marks for its fighting ability and its table fare. Also read they could be taken on a wet fly. Would some of you give me your opinion about the plus and minus’ of the drum?
Thanks: Tim
I have hit into pretty good fishing for drums a couple of times. Both times were in the spring and there seemed to be a lot of them in near shore (breeding or just feeding I do not know). They readily took nymphs, black buggers, and small foxy red clousers. The 5 pounders put up a pretty good tug with a 5 wt - I would compare them to largemouth bass (boy that will likely cause some flack). Both times I was fishing for gills and largemouth and the drum were pleasant surprises. I have never eaten one but then I would not eat a largemouth (or any fish out of an Iowa lake or river - if you think we can poison the nation’s egg supplies you should see what we do with our waterways).
David
They do like Clouser minnows! I know that for a fact. Pull like crazy… They’re a lot of fun to catch. My buddy’s dad says they taste great, but I will stick to crappie, gills, and white bass.
AKA Sheephead… They also like crayfish patterns. They are fun to catch, but where I get them from, I wouldn’t eat them. They will grunt when you’re handling them.
Here are some interesting links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1839/is-the-drum-fish-the-worlds-most-useless-fish
Some recipes:
http://www.ohioseagrant.osu.edu/_documents/publications/FS/FS-038%20Recipes%20for%20your%20freshwater%20catch.pdf
http://www.ifood.tv/network/skin_freshwater_drum_fish/recipes
I grew up in Texas and we called them gaspergou.
I’ve caught a few while sight casting to them along the dam of Clinton Lake in Lawrence, KS. Fun fish to fish for, fun to fight too. Haven’t eaten any though.
TT.
I haven’t caught any on fly gear yet, just on spinning gear. The bigger ones give a darn good fight, for sure! Here’s my biggest one, caught this summer. It was 26" long. I released it. It hit a Reef Runner Cicada blade bait:
They are plentiful in Lake Erie—relative to the red drum and black drum in saltwater which taste great. “Silver sliders” Pull hard and glide —pull hard and glide—Everyone fishing for perch or walleye thought of them as rough fish but after the onslaught of zebra and quagga mussels in L.Erie the sheephead is the hero.
The gold tinted ones are eating the mussels. They take the same lures and bait as a walleye—love softshelled crayfish and emerald shiners. I’ve caught them up to 28" and had some of the huge ones fight til they are dead. If you turn them belly up they will just lie there until a gull lands on them. Some people eat them but more people dont.
Mike
From what I have been told, you are the Sheephead King of Lake Erie! Keep up the good work buddy!
Brad
Thats it—the sheephead has been thrown !!!
Im bargaining for a dock up your way in may and june—ill get the “dough god” and we can have a sheephead tournament when they are on the beds. Fly Only!!!— You’re gonna need a 10 wt—none of those pamby wamby 3 wts.
Looser samples some cedar planked sliders .
Mike
Never caught one, but they are a very cool fish. They have numerous large pharyngeal teeth (teeth in the throat) that they use to crush mollusks etc. Really neat to see those.
I’m in Buddy! Let me know when and where the dock is amd we will get together and beat the lake to a froth!
Brad
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!
Haven’t got one on a fly, yet, but I’ve caught quite a few on jigs with plastic grubs, so I know they’ll readily take a fly. Drum in these parts average roughly 2 to 6 or 7 pounds and their characteristic battle mode seems to be an initial drive for deep water that is very persistent. They really make the drag sing. I have noticed that they lose steam after the initial bursts of energy. But if you tie into one you better have your drag set properly.
Enjoy them. They’re great fun.
Bill
My best luck has been on small minnow patterns, very sparsely tied clousers, crawfish, and large dark nymphs. I’ve eaten a few, a bit oily, but not bad. On neat little fact, their native range is the largest north to south range of any fish out there and can be found from Manitoba clear south to Guatemala. Very adaptable critters indeed.
I want to thank all of you for the education. FishnDave the pictures are great and the others have been a basket of information on this fish.
As far as I know there are not any drums in Oregon, but if there was I would like to give them a try.
Thanks Again
Tim
My Dad caught one when I was a kid. We weren’t sure what it was, but my Great-Uncle knew what it was and he kept and ate it. If memory serves he said they were more bone than fish? Maybe somebody with more experience and a better memory will come along and tell us for sure. 
I bet they’d be a lot of fun on a fly.
hNt
FishnDave----the 28’s that i was getting ran around 12#—a 28" walleye runs 7-8#—Im going to guess that your 26 was between 8 and 10#
Mike
Thanks Mike. I caught this one while fishing for white bass , largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and walleyes that were up on a shallow flat chasing shad! It was a great fight! I’ve caught others on lures, so I’m sure I can get one on a fly someday…but I’ll definitely have to be in the “right place at the right time”!
I catch drum quite frequently while fishing for stripers in the Arkansas River.
Most of mine were caught on clouser minnows or rabbit strip streamers.
Steve