# Freshwater drum-line



## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

Hi fellas,

So I spent some time in Texas recently and became enamored with redfish fishing (they are awesome sport fish and taste delicious blackened) and after doing a lot of googling discovered there really aren't too many differences between gulf redfish and our freshwater drum and I'm eager to find out for myself! In four years of Ohio fishing I've never actually caught one, from the academic literature, they can be caught all year (though far more in the warmer months), but the reports and videos are reeeeeealll sparse on winter drum fishing. Has anyone run into these apparently way underrated fish lately? I'm eager to get into them in the spring but i would love to hit them sooner, anyone got a pointer or report? Thanks!

Tell me this don't sound inviting! [ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ljy-UVqjRIg[/ame]


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## greghal (Aug 22, 2013)

Hey SamiFish, if you fish the Ohio river or its tribs there are plenty of drum, and you can catch them all year. I catch them on grubs and swim baits, but if I was to target them I'd say nightcrawlers or crawdads.


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

I catch quite a few drum while fishing for hybrids, especially this time of year. They tend to be bottom dwellers and will often strike lures like Greg mentioned. I get most of mine on spoons and blade baits, but mainly because that is my most common lure. You can drag a grub for great success out in the Ohio River or tribs. I usually find them in relation to muscle beds or rock piles on flats. If you can find an area of the bank that has isolated gravel or an old boat ramp, that is usually a good place to look 

I'm surprised Greg didn't comment on how good they taste!


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## whodeynati (Mar 12, 2012)

Like what Greg said nightcrawlers would be my top choice of bait.


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## BuzzBait Brad (Oct 17, 2014)

I've caught some in the tail waters of Caesar creek. Never really targeted them or ate them though. I say most of the time I catch one is when I'm using nightcrawlers. 

I'd love to fish the Ohio river but I don't even know where to start since I'm not familiar with any part of southern Ohio at all


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

Sweet thanks for the input! Any gravel piles or old boat ramps in particular you've got in mind? I doubt ppl are going to go swarm on these places given how underpressured they are as a sought after species


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## whodeynati (Mar 12, 2012)

I've seen people catch them at Schidmt Field ramp..


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

SamiFish said:


> Any gravel piles or old boat ramps in particular you've got in mind?


Yes


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## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

Sheephead whiteperch whatever you want to call it, the river is full of them. To find a place to fish for drum is easy ride next to the bank until you see broken zebra mussel shells (that is what they eat) . They will cover the bank along the shore line go out from the bank going up stream until you mark the drum on your depth finder around 20 ft deep on the section I fish . A 1/2 oz chrome or white jigging spoon is hard to beat for lure selection . They will wear you out 10lb fireline on a spincast is what we use , 10 and 15 lb fish are common most of them are around 5 lbs. You can catch hundreds of them a day if you want. Rocky or gravel bottoms something for the zebras to attach to is what you need . The zebras will appear as tiny white rocks all over the bank but closer inspection will show that they are broken shells. You will see the problem that the drum has by eating the zebras a BLOODY ANUS LOL. The locals along the river eat them I cut them up and use them for bluecat bait.
When the catfishing gets slow, as we drift down the river we will drop a spoon down to give us something to do .


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I've caught and ate red drum or redfish as they are often called. I would give them a very high score for eating. not much of a fishy taste at all. now my little brother said he didn't care much for redfish they didn't taste fishy enough for him. I've never thought about comparing fresh water drum to the salt water redfish. I always thought the drum was much to fishy tasting for my taste buds. im not trying to start a stink here its just my opinion.

sure hope you start catching some drum and that they taste as good as redfisf to you.
sherman


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## afishinfool (Feb 1, 2014)

HOUSE said:


> Yes


lol..thats funny!


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I've probably caught an equal number on night crawlers while cat fishing and lures while predator fishing. I've kept them in the past when I was desperate to not come home empty handed. They honestly don't taste bad at all, but their bodies are mostly head, which makes for not too much meat on the good-eating sized ones in my experience. Anything bigger might be a little past it's prime, so to speak. They are common in all of the reservoirs and rivers around, but I haven't seen many in the smaller creeks.


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## Mean Morone (Apr 12, 2004)

My buddy and I target them in the summer. We fish the Ohio River and just look for rocky banks. Drift just off shore and jig Flitterbaits off the bottom.


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## GarrettMyers (May 16, 2011)

There's nothing wrong with catching drum. I seem to catch them on almost any lure, but I've caught a bunch of them on tubes bounced off bottom. More than once, I've been fooled by drum. I got one in some raging water behind a rock. Thought for sure I had a trophy smallmouth for a few seconds. Another time, I had one blast a swimbait in some really fast stuff. Thought I had a big hybrid... Nope, just a huge freaking drum. For that reason, they aren't my favorite fish to catch. I know you weren't asking my opinion of drum, but it brought back some memories &#128521;


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

To bad you live in Cincinnati. If you lived close to Lake Erie you could go out and fill a tugboat with drum! But, you can catch them in the rivers down there. I've caught them in the Muskingum upstream from Marietta. My BIL and I make a few trips a year to Ashtabula harbor for smallies, but if we hit a spot with drum we'll happily fish for them. They are willing biters and fight like crazy! On Erie all I ever had to use was a jig and twister tail. No live bait necessary! The only time I didn't catch a drum was when I didn't let the jig get deep enough! You gotta get down for the drum.

One tip a buddy of mine gave me for eating freshwater drum. Clean it, cut into about 1" chunks. Boil in 7Up. That's right, 7Up! Have your drawn garlic butter ready to go! You are about to enjoy poor man's lobster!


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

i caught two out of the GMR


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## greghal (Aug 22, 2013)

The KING hit the nail on the head. I was talking to HOUSE about eating a couple drum that we caught on the Ohio this fall, and I said the Drum are all head not much meat after trimming off the red meat. They have a loud smell, but after cleaning the meat is mild and it doesn't stink. HOUSE told me that he had also heard that you boil them in 7up and dip in butter, poor mans lobster. I didn't have any 7up so I used sierra mist. My wife and I ate them and they were not bad. My wife ate more than I because I could still remember the smell when cleaning them.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

It seems i always catch them when in a catfish tourney. Using a big hunk of cutbait and the rod gets buried. Excitement levels go through the roof. Partner getting net ready and then they pop up like a big cork. Depression sets in quickly. Lol what a let down. Never fails. I dont think i ever caught one while fun fishing. Only during tournaments. Ha ha. Ive taken several in the 10-14 lb range. Some real pigs!

Salmonid


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## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

Crazy Creek lake is full of them . They do have a fishy smell to them(Greghal lol your poor wife ) . When I use them for catfish bait I just chunk them with skin and scales on them pretty tough bait with the skin on last all day sometimes .


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## greghal (Aug 22, 2013)

C J Hughes said:


> Crazy Creek lake is full of them . They do have a fishy smell to them(Greghal lol your poor wife ) . When I use them for catfish bait I just chunk them with skin and scales on them pretty tough bait with the skin on last all day sometimes .


Hey CJ if you think that's funny, I always use her as the guinea pig ( ouch that doesn't sound right, I hope she doesn't read this.) I caught a couple gar last year, and heard they were good to eat. I saw a show KY afield that they were bow shooting gar and cleaned and ate them. I cleaned and ate the gar and it was a mild white firm meat pretty good taste. She didn't see the gar when I cleaned them. She said they were the best fish she has ever had. I said to myself, you got to be kidding. Like I said before I still can remember the stink and slime when cleaning them. Then again she ate a lot more than I.


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

Got on a small creekmouth to the Ohio looking for these guys and got one! They're pretty fun, definitely fight better than saugeye which just feel like deadweight but I think it's just so cold nothing is very active at all. Cool but odd, I hooked three buffalo on the gulp minnows I was using (I thought they just bugs and dough balls) and they didn't put much of a fight either and they're usually pretty energetic.

Still a lot more fun than the last few trips!


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm going to keep chasing them and if I get a big enough one I'm gonna try making some blackened freshwater drum as well as this cool Cajun étouffée for it! I'll let y'all know how it is and pictures too!


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

I wanted to try nightcrawlers on a slip rig or Lindy rig but all the tackle shops by the river were closed for the winter. I'll pick some up tomorrow. So I've heard crawfish are actually the best bait for the big ones, I thought I'd try powercraw or maybe just some plastics in crawfish patterns? I also considered the crawfish patterned cranks? Any thoughts?


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## fishin.accomplished (Apr 4, 2011)

afishinfool said:


> lol..thats funny!


Great minds think alike!
Haha &#128518;


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## BMagill (May 5, 2004)

The biggest walleye I ever hooked was a drum, so was the biggest largemouth, and the biggest hybrid, and the biggest yellow perch, and the biggest smallmouth, and the biggest channel cat - but my son has a real knack for pulling drums in. We call him "Captain Sheephead".

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=10076&title=captain-sheephead&cat=500

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=62080&title=img207&cat=500


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## canoe carp killer (Apr 2, 2014)

BMagill said:


> The biggest walleye I ever hooked was a drum, so was the biggest largemouth, and the biggest hybrid, and the biggest yellow perch, and the biggest smallmouth, and the biggest channel cat - but my son has a real knack for pulling drums in. We call him "Captain Sheephead".
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Very nice!! He's a pro


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

BMagill said:


> The biggest walleye I ever hooked was a drum, so was the biggest largemouth, and the biggest hybrid, and the biggest yellow perch, and the biggest smallmouth, and the biggest channel cat - but my son has a real knack for pulling drums in. We call him "Captain Sheephead".
> 
> http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=10076&title=captain-sheephead&cat=500
> 
> http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=62080&title=img207&cat=500


Wow! He's a real drum assassin! Lol maybe he can let me in on his secret to getting the hefty ones like that


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## GarrettMyers (May 16, 2011)

BMagill said:


> The biggest walleye I ever hooked was a drum, so was the biggest largemouth, and the biggest hybrid, and the biggest yellow perch, and the biggest smallmouth, and the biggest channel cat



Haha, I like this. I feel your pain. I've had a few buffalo fool me in raging fast water as well.


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## catmando (Aug 21, 2006)

Gaspergou's rock!


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

catmando said:


> Gaspergou's rock!



You got a favorite spot or approach you'd be willing to share in a pm with a nice dude like myself?


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## baitguy (Dec 17, 2013)

If I'm not the Sheephead King, I'm certainly on the short list, but that kid's at least a prince, that's a nice fish  Do a lot on Erie, can be perchin or chasing eyes with 2-3 other guys who are killin those and every other fish I catch is a sheeper. They might not taste as good but they do put up a decent fight, can always tell it's not a walleye, it actually fights back. They'll nail about anything, worms, minnies, crayfish, lures, often pretty hard, sometimes almost tear the rod out of my hand. Definitely fun to catch, have saved many a slow day.


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