Investigating Drum: Dossier

An average size drum I caught at Lake of the Ozarks last year. All in all, I caught nearly thirty in two days. 

If you've been following my blog, you know that I've been in pursuit of the freshwater drum. They have a reputation for being trash fish and it's baffled me as to why that is. Here, I will share more info about drum and my opinion of eating them fried.

Notice the commonalities in habitat
that this area shares with the above
photo. 

A number of people have tried to sell freshwater drum as the next sport fish, such as the Ohio DNR in the eighties. They published a great leaflet on drum patterns, how to fillet them, and included useful recipes at the end. I'm going to do the same thing, but with the hope that I can give you specific drum behaviors, such as habitat, seasonal activity, and methods of catching.

Let's begin...

Habitat: In my experience, drum like three major habitats. Rocks, sand/mud, and deep water.

Lakes and Reservoirs 

What I caught my most recent drum on

First, are rocky ledges. Dams, areas with rip rap, or coves with rocky shores attract them. They forage often close to the bank for crayfish and small baitfish.
      Key Baits: Worms and minnow imitations. This could be crank baits or rooster tails. Experiment!
      Time of Day: Drum, like any fish, are more active in the morning and evening, however, they are often the only fish that will chomp your bait when there are bluebird skies.

Second, sandy, silty areas. I've caught more drum in river habitats this way. In a reservoir, you can try nightcrawlers and cut bait in old river channels. Sand humps, I've been told, also hold them. Again, crank baits work. It's the chagrin of a bass fisherman to pull up a monster drum while fishing a tournament.

Third, deep water structure. I don't have a boat, but in the colder months, I've heard that they congregate in main lake areas that are impossible to get to without some sort of aquatic transportation. I've seen videos of people jigging for them on the great lakes. It's on my bucket list.

Streams and Rivers
Most streams and rivers hold drum. Focus downstream of riffles, which are areas of shallow water that lead to deep holes. Drum will mosey up to these spots and cruise the bottom to suck up crayfish, worms, and baitfish that come downstream.

One of my favorite fishing memories was catching drum in an ozark mountain stream on light tackle. They battles were epic and all I was using was a small circle hook with a worm on the end. One of my catches was under the seemingly endless, starlight heavens. It doesn't get better than that.

You can also catch them on muddy runs in rivers, particularly after rain. Be prepared to catch some carp as well.

So, is it good fried? 
Um, well, not really. It isn't bad, but it's pretty low on my list of fish fry candidates. Drum is very oily, like salmon, and so it just doesn't lend itself to the flavor and texture we expect of a white fish. It's better to think of them in the way we think of redfish or black drum. Go for blackened or pan seared. I have a few more recipes to try, including using them for fish cakes. It's all about preparation.

It looked so promising...

From what I've read, their taste is pretty variable based on what water they come from. This is true of many fish, so I'm not sure if drum is more variable than others. They are reputed for having a strange, firm texture, but thus far, the ones that I've caught haven't tasted that way. I guess I just need to catch the bigger boys.




Aren't they boney? 
Nope. They have a different bone structure than bass, but they don't have weird y bones like a carp. They are, granted, a relatively low yielding fish for their size (big fish with not so much meat), but they aren't difficult to fillet. They have large pin bones at the top of the ribs that you cut over, as if they were a second pair of ribs. Many ocean fish have a similar skeletal pattern. Even a beginner can get a boneless fillet from a drum.