# What kind of fish is this?



## Pac12 (Sep 12, 2012)

I have been fishing in the Great Miami River in the Cleves area and caught this but I'm unsure what kind of fish it is.Can anyone identify it please.


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## fishknife (Apr 13, 2004)

Freshwater Drum, also known as a Sheephead.


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## Pac12 (Sep 12, 2012)

Thank you fishknife for the info.


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Common and native in our local rivers, and pretty game fighters. I don't mind catching them.


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Yeah a lot of people consider them "trash" but they do put up a decent fight and they can get BIG! So far in 2012 my biggest fish is a 26" sheephead and that thing had my reel screaming!


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## madgoosr (Aug 3, 2011)

They eat pretty darn good too!


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## inrll (Apr 6, 2012)

If you were targeting them specifically what would do you think would work well? I've heard live craws but wonder if any artificials would work.


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## Pac12 (Sep 12, 2012)

Was caught with live crawldad as bait.


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## Curtis937 (Sep 17, 2010)

I've caught them on cut bait at the Ohio river and even caught a 22" one in my throw net there too...lol both were turned loose they remind me of carp they fight really well but ppl hate them


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

My biggest sheepshead was caught on a crawler, but I've caught them on just about everything, including rapalas, spinners, tubes, etc.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

they do put up a pretty good fight. but when im walleye fishing on erie i hate those things. the only other fish i hate worse would be white perch. they bout worked us to death on erie one day when we was fishing erie back in july. atleast a good sized sh will give you alittle fight.
sherman


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

They can get big, too. My biggest fish ever in fresh water was a 33" drum. That was a monster, and it took about 10 minutes to haul it in, back and forth and up and down this long but fairly shallow pool.


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

fresh water drum, caught one when I was 8 on Erie. prob was like 5 pounds.


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Next time you catch a freshwater drum, try this: Scale it, filet it, then cut the flesh into strips about two inches long and one inch wide. You boil these in water with lots of lemon juice, and maybe some Old Bay seasoning (optional). Just for a minute or two. Fish these filet strips out of the pot and put them on ice. When they're nice and cold, you dip them in shrimp sauce. Poor man's shrimp!

Well, it's pretty good all right but it doesn't actually taste like shrimp. But the meat when cooked this way is a dead ringer for shrimp as far as texture, real real firm. 

I munch down a drum or two like this every year. If you try it, you'll see how tasty it is.

Or when the strips are still warm, dip them in melted butter. Poor man's lobster! Doesn't taste like lobster either, but this is also an excellent dish in its own right.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

zuelkek said:


> Next time you catch a freshwater drum, try this: Scale it, filet it, then cut the flesh into strips about two inches long and one inch wide. You boil these in water with lots of lemon juice, and maybe some Old Bay seasoning (optional). Just for a minute or two. Fish these filet strips out of the pot and put them on ice. When they're nice and cold, you dip them in shrimp sauce. Poor man's shrimp!
> 
> Well, it's pretty good all right but it doesn't actually taste like shrimp. But the meat when cooked this way is a dead ringer for shrimp as far as texture, real real firm.
> 
> ...


I've heard of this, but have yet to try it. I've also heard that if you boil it in 7up, it gives it that sweet-ish flavor of lobster too. I don't know if I would want to potentially waste good fish and good 7up to test it myself though!


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Interesting idea! I'll try it sometime. Maybe with a little Dr. Pepper mixed in--nah. Possibly just lace the water with sugar. I'm gonna try that...


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## fredg53 (Sep 17, 2010)

Up here on the lake we all seem to consider em trash i never tasted one out if erie but in nola they were on e every menu tried it and it was great cajun style 

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## chadwimc (Jun 27, 2007)

They do get big, at least in Kentucky Lake...
Caught this one on a crappie jig, using 4lb test line.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Damn that is a big one. I read once that some otoliths (sheepshead ear bones) found in ancient Indian sites on the great lakes indicate the fish they came from were upwards of 200 lbs. I don't know if I believe that, but I sure would like to see a 200 lb sheepshead.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

I caught a 28&#8221; drum in the Cleves area on a Bass Pro Lazer Eye Nitro Minnow back in October 2010; it was a little over 8 lbs. I saw it kind of lumbering around a little downstream of me; I thought it was a buffalo. I didn&#8217;t even cast toward it but it made a bee-line for my lure and inhaled it. It put up a respectable fight; I&#8217;ve had drum hit hard and fight hard and I&#8217;ve also had them fight like a wet rag, I guess it depends on what kind of mood they&#8217;re in.(?)


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## laynhardwood (Dec 27, 2009)

The question isn't what do they bite it's what don't they bite I want to know 


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Sheepheads are close cousins of ocean redfish (also spot and croaker), so it makes sense that cajun style would work with them. Blackened sheephead sounds like it might be worth a try.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

laynhardwood said:


> The question isn't what do they bite it's what don't they bite I want to know
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


If you are trying to avoid them, you'd probably be safe with topwater


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

inrll said:


> If you were targeting them specifically what would do you think would work well? I've heard live craws but wonder if any artificials would work.


Caught this one on a craw colored Rapala DT-4. They LOVE craws! But so does just about everything else in the rivers...


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## inrll (Apr 6, 2012)

Nice one! Catch that in KY?


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

inrll said:


> Nice one! Catch that in KY?


Yeah. You wouldn't believe how small of a creek it came out of. I didn't think a fish this size would ever be in there. Definitely surprised me!


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

They're definitely a fun fish to catch. Very underrated and don't deserve the bad rep they get.

I've said this a few times on here before, but I really really do get irritated when people treat them like trash on Erie. If you simply just don't like catching them, that's your opinion, but you don't have to treat them badly such as killing them, using a towel to handel the fish and take the slime off(btw they're about just as slimy as eye's), etc. On tv once a guy had the net all ready to net the fish(thinking it's a big eye), but as soon as he saw it was a drum he put the net down. Seriously?


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

fishinnick said:


> I really really do get irritated when people treat them like trash on Erie.


Drum eat zebra mussels, that should be enough to garner at least a little bit of respect.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I think they look kind of cool, better than carp for sure!


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