What You Should Do To Catch Drum Fish?
Drum fish is a desire of many anglers who love fishing because of their beautiful appearance. It is divided into two kinds of fish which are red drum and black drum. But, have you ever caught one of them?
If you want to challenge yourself, this is a suitable time to do that. Keep reading this blog to know what to do with drum fish!
Red Drum And Black Drum
1. Red Drum
The red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is a “game fish” which is found in the Atlantic Ocean. They have an eyespot near their tail as an outstanding feature to realize them. About their size, a red drum is often from 11 to 24 inches dimensions with 22 pounds in weight. Some of them have an amazing weight up to 94 pounds.
Why do people call them "Red Drum"? The reason is that when the breeding season (during August or October) is coming, the male fish will make a knocking or a drumming sound. Besides that, the color of them is mixed between red and orange.
You can see a large number of this drum fish in the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. They like the shallow areas which are around 1 to 4 in-depth along the edges of bays that have submerged vegetation.
Moreover, they are also realized easily at rocky outcroppings, such as near bridges, piers, or even our constructions. The red drum often goes to the bays or surf zone in the fall. Plus, some people said that they can find them in creeks and rivers and other freshwater areas.
2. Black Drum
Black drum (Pogonias cromis) is a species in the drum fish and the relative of red drum. They live in saltwater and have an iridescent black color. A black drum often weighs from 2 to 4 kilograms and sometimes its weight can be up to 40 kilograms. Their teeth are quite sharp because they can crush oysters and other shellfish. During the breeding season, a male will create a "drum" sound when mating.
This kind of drum fish often lives in surfs, channels, or estuaries. You can find them in deeper water where there is a current flowing through it and in some constructions in that area.
How To Catch A Red Drum?
The ideal period to fish for red ones is from the late summer to the early fall because they tend to appear regularly around jetties to prepare for the next breeding season. You are a lucky angler if you are living in Florida due to the large number of redfish there.
1. The bait
You should use artificial lures as the bait for the red drum. In fact, they are "gluttons", so they will eat everything they find near that location. Do not worry too much about the bait, just use some things you can buy at that time. If possible, the best choices for you are live shrimp, Atlantic croaker, mud minnows, etc.
2. Fishing Equipment
The fishing rod is very essential and we recommend you choose the one which is longer than 10 feet in length and heavy enough to control the fish's power. In contrast, you can use the 6 to 8 feet long rod if you want to focus on small redfish. This rod has to have a medium action and two-handed grip to support your fishing trip. The best rod will weigh 8 to 10 pounds with heavier fluorocarbon sinking lines.
Besides that, the reels should be large enough to keep the normal weight of a normal fish from 25 to 40 pounds. Plus, you should check the drag system to assure it works well. With the small trophies, you should prepare a reel that holds at least 100 yards of line. Experienced people often choose spinning or baitcasting reels.
About the line, you can set up the 17 to 25 pounds line when deciding to fish near rocks, pilings, or oysters shells. Otherwise, use the lighter line which is around 8 to 15 pounds if you catch fish in the grass flats. Moreover, prepare a heavy-grabbing sinker to keep the bait.
3. Useful Tips To Catch Redfish
At first, some people thought catching the red drum was very difficult but everything will be solved after you follow our tips and tricks.
- You need to be patient and spend time to find the best location before catching them that can prevent any pressure on redfish.
- Learn how to quickly observe and react while fishing on the water surface because the redfish move very fast.
- If you prefer live bait for them, you should choose the creatures which are living in the place you fish, so it helps you catch more fish because the red ones already liked to eat that bait.
- In contrast with the live bait, try to imitate the bait to attract them.
Fish For Black Drum
1. The Bait
This kind of drum fish loves a crustacean-based diet so they often eat small shrimps, crabs, and maybe oysters or clams. If you use shrimps to catch them, you should cut its tail to release the scent that attracts the black drum. Do the same with crabs, clams by cutting them into 1/4 size or half.
1. Equipment
Depending on the size of the black drum you want to catch, you can prepare the suitable equipment before going on a fishing trip.
The reels are often spinning or baitcasting types which can handle 10-20lb lines when your desires are 14 to 24 inches fish. However, if you want to catch larger fish, the option for you is to use 20-40lb lines which are spinning reels or conventional reels but the reels need a very strong dragging system and robust gearing to keep the big, healthy black drum.
When fishing this drum fish, you have to focus on the balance. So, you should equip a rod that is over 8 feet in length. This rod helps you to increase casting distance. When the black drum bites your bait, you can easily detect them, so the best option is a rod with a strong backbone and medium action.
You can use the 10-15lb lime for the normal fish or 20-40lb for the larger one. The line must be small in diameter, quite abrasion-resistant, and can not break easily when you fish near rocks or covers. Use fluorocarbon as the material of the line instead of the monofilament.
3. Technique
When you fish near piers or bridges, you should observe the rock or a piling because the black drum usually gathers there. After dropping the bait, you should sometimes lift and move the bait every few seconds to check it. Once it reaches the target area, let the bait stay a while.
Black drum finds food by their sense of smell and touch, so they will follow the scent of the bait which you have prepared. If you choose a circle hook, try not to move the hook quickly when the fish bites your bait because it will only pull the hook out of its mouth. You should allow the fish to pull and put pressure on them.
This drum fish will try to swim around the pilling and rocks as a way to escape from you. This is the most important time that you have to take them away from their covers as soon as possible. In that way, you can be a successful angler with many black drums.
4. Tips and Tricks For Black Drum
- Use a circle hook when fishing this drum fish.
- Do not set the hook in a traditional way. Let the fish swim away to set the hook on its own.
- Make sure your bait releases the scent to attract them.
- The small fish are more delicious than the larger so that you should release the big ones in order to help them continue to breed.
That is all things you should know if you want to catch any drum fish, even if they are red drum or black drum. We hope you can gain more knowledge after seeing our blog. Good luck!
