Although not as sought after as their closely related cousin the red drum or redfish, black drum are just as much fun to catch and to are delious on the old bar-be-que pit. Slowly cooked over the coals on the half shell to help lock in all the suculent juices, with a little lemon juice, butter and galic mixture to add just that right twang to the meat. Accompanied with a few ice cold brewskies and your in for a meal you won't soon forget. But what really sets this perticular species of game fish apart from the rest of the thousands of would be dinner platters available to the local angler is their eerie thumping sound they resienate through the water. During the spawning season big male drum emit loud drumming sound for attracting the females of the species. And when a lucky angler finds himself set up over one of these drum pick up bars the noise will even be felt through the thickes of boat hulls Then all the fortunate fishermen needs to do is simple drop a line with a crab dangleing off the end and presto instant drum. These rare occourencess usually coincided with the full moon and are best witnesses at night. Due to the lack of fishing pressure and noise from other happenings of the daily life out on the water. The angler will be able to fear the strange phenonemon of the gulf coast. Think of one of those old Tazan movies where the native are banging their drums off in the distance and you should be able to reconize the sound of the drums mateing calls.
But these are only a couple of reason why the modern day angler should take a second look at our friend the Black Drum. One of the other resons on a long list, is during the spring and fall runs up and down the Texas coast line. Many an angler will be loading up their freezer with delictable meat from old Mr. Drum. Once a school has been located the race will be on with trying to haul in a many of the monsters from the gulf that is humanly possible. Although lots of fun fighting these bad boys of the surf with long rods with plenty of back bone and tackle to match. Many a fishermen will find himself dead tired relaxing in the old lazy boy at the end of the day. Will the smell of ben-gay filling his nostrils soothing those aching muscles. Fighting a 20+ plus pound drum through the surf will eventually wear out even the most hardy of anglers. But after the last drum has been caught and released. And all the great memorable pictures have been taken. This will be one fishing expeditions worth remembering for the record books. Especially for those young fishermen who have not had the chance of catching fish of this size or numbers. When this pack of picture come back from the drug store I guarntee you won't have to look hard for all those smiles pasted across the photos.
Best places to fish for these monsters are along the coast line. Paying perticular attention to the shoeline for inlet of crushed shell fish that will help mark channels leading out in the gulf. Schools will congregate around these inlets picking apart the various crabs and crustations that use these as their highways back and forth to the beach. Also check out the jetties and points around the different bay channels during the spring and fall runs. These will serve as stop off points for the drum as they make their way back into the bays. You'll be able to reconize this place fairly easilly just keep your eyes open for the different locations lined up end to end with hundreds of anglers trying to hang one of these bad boys. Just make sure to stay clear of some off these knuckle-heads with their fifty pound weights with 3/0 gauge wire sticking out the sides. These tend not only to hold the bait in place during hurricane force swells it will also has the tendence to become embedded in unlucky nearby fishermen.
Best baits to use when going after the Big Black Drum is crab. The smaller one are the best, but halving or quartering the larger one work well too. Cut bait will also do in a pinch along with live sprimp or anything that you would normally go after their cousins the redfish with. But to enhance to catch ratios and omitt the other unwanted species inhabiting the same waters nothing works quite as well as a good old crab dangleing off the end of the hook. Also take care to match your tackle to fit the reputation that monster drum bring to the table. These are no sand trout that you'll be hopefully hanging up with on these fishing outings. A rod with plenty of back bone and reel filled to the gills with test at least 12 pound test is recomended. Although some anglers seem to go to the extreme of gearing up with line thick enough to substitute as anchor rope. With the ability to jerk the poor fish out of the water with their hook sets and reeling in nothing but the drum dentures. Although this technique works well, keep in mind this is still a sport and the true definition of fishing is to allow your quarry a sporting chance when stalking him.
And be sure to keep in mind the Texas guide line on limits and size for this species. And practice a little catch and release for those future fishing expeditions and generations to come. Finally remember when packing those tackle boxes when going after these bad boys of the gulf, be sure to bring along a couple of tubes of Ben-Gay. You'll be thanking me later after a long day of tackling these monsters all day long!!!