Many years ago I was
wading my favorite southern Indiana limestone creek in high summer, happily
catching the variety of pretty little fish that inhabit these flows,
including the occasional smallmouth. Stepping into the next pool, a
somewhat deeper, slow flowing section, I made a long cast with the Rebel Wee
Craw and cranked it down to bottom, scuttling the bait along the gravel and
rocks. The strike that came was one of those atomic hits that almost knocks
the rod from your hands; my brain registered “big smallmouth.” Quickly it
became apparent that this wasn’t a smallmouth, not for want of impressive
fight but the lack of acrobatics. That day I was disappointed to discover
I’d hooked about a 2-3 lb. freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens).
First cousin to the
renowned Gulf Coast red fish, also know as red drum, the freshwater drum is
the only member of this large family of fish, Sciaenidae, that lives
in freshwater. Over 200 additional species of this family are known and all
are salt water inhabitants. Freshwater drum – sheepshead, croakers, grunts
- are distributed extensively throughout North and Central America,
primarily east of the Rocky Mountains and south to Guatemala.
Inexperienced fishermen
sometimes confuse drum with carp, probably due to the subterminal location
of the mouth in both species. Drum can be recognized by the steep slope of
the head from the nose to the dorsal fin, which produces a pronounced
hump-backed appearance. An additional distinctive feature is the complete
lateral line that extends through the caudal fin. The ‘drumming’ sound
these fish are known for is made by movement of a tendon over the swim
bladder in adult males and is thought to be related to reproductive
behavior. As befits the drum’s unique freshwater status within the family
Sciaenidae, drum are also the only North American freshwater species
that spawns pelagically, producing floating, planktonic eggs. Spawning
begins in June when water temperatures reach 65 – 700 F with each
female producing up to 50,000 eggs. In the laboratory eggs hatched in 27
hours, with free-swimming larva (fry) developing in 45 hours. Drum spawning
has not been observed in the wild.
Drum are primarily
bottom dwellers and feeders that root in substrate materials and rocks for
almost any forage that lives there – crayfish, insects, small fish, and
mollusks including zebra mussels, that are crushed by the drum’s impressive
pharyngeal teeth. If you fish mid-west streams and rivers for smallmouth
bass your approach will be on the bottom, at times imitating much of the
same forage drum look for. Eventually you are going to experience the
excitement of hooking a drum! While drum are said to prefer larger bodies
of water with less current, their adaptability has extended their range to
even very small flows. The bigger the body of water, the bigger the drum,
of course (the world record is a 54 pound specimen from a lake in
Tennessee), but the smaller fish of local rivers are incredibly entertaining
in their own right.
Since entertainment,
meaning catching fish, is our ultimate goal here, this is the somewhat
‘conventional wisdom’ on targeting drum. Riprap banks and tailwaters are
known to attract drum, particularly at night, due to the available forage
found in those habitats. In smaller flows, search the same habitat you
would for smallmouth, concentrating on current edges with adjacent slack
water. Last year I took a beautiful two-pounder from a small creek, again
on a Rebel Wee Craw. On this occasion, however, there was no disappointment
with the outstanding fight in current from this worthy quarry! Crankbaits
that run near bottom are effective drum applications, as are jigs with a
plastic trailer and wobbling spoons. For bait fishermen, crayfish tails are
number one, although night crawlers can be a fair substitute.
Considering that drum
are freshwater red fish, your next one should be regarded as table fare.
When properly prepared, they are tasty! If you’re a catch and release
fisherman that has a hankering for a fresh fish dinner, here are two
suggestions for preparing drum:
Blackened drum
http://www.fish4fun.com/seafoodrecipes.htm#Blackened%20Redfish
Drum etouffee
http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/recipes/cajun/gaspergou-etouffee/627.rcr
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