BLACK DRUM FISHING
by Captain Harvey Yenkinson

HERE THEY COME

The first full moon of late April or early May usually announces the arrival of Pogonias cromis (latin for bearded grunter), better known as the black drum, a member of the croaker family. A widespread species, these fish are found from New York to the Gulf of Mexico. Drumfish over the age of two, which are part of the migratory group, have moved in from the ocean to the south to enter the bay to spawn and feed. These prehistoric looking creatures are known to live in excess of 35 years and may even live long enough to repeat this spawning run for 50 years. A ten year old fish is approximately 60 pounds. Drumfish have been observed moving in schools so huge that they look like a big brown cloud 50-100 yards long moving through the water. Drum will feed on any of the bivalve (clam, mussel, or oyster) beds in the mouth of the bay. These fish will enter the bay and begin spawning when the water temperatures rise above 57 degrees.

While traditionally a night fishing adventure, fishing for these behemoths is equally as productive during the daylight hours. Traditionally drum first show up on the coral beds off of slaughter beach Delaware, then in June appear at some of the familiar Jersey spots like the Horseshoe, Punk Grounds, and Pin Top. This past year was the exception, as fish showed up on both sides of the bay early and throughout the season. On some days the bite was better at Slaughter beach, and on other days it was better on “the Jersey side.”

WHEN AND WHERE TO FISH

Drum fishing often is best around spring tide periods associated with the full and new moons. Tradition holds that fishing is best around the change of flood tide, but a bite may occur at either change of the tide and in mid tide periods if the water is not moving too fast. Faster tides raise the baits off the bottom and are easily missed by the downward gaze of the bottom feeding drum. The most productive nights tend to be the calmest nights, when the gnats bite, as the old timers used to say. These fish are known to enter the bay on a flooding tide and will later depart on an ebb tide, after spreading around the bay to forage before exiting in late June or early July to go back offshore to cooler waters.

Fishing at Slaughter beach is usually done in areas of water from 2 to 4 miles from the beach in water under 25 feet deep, an area plentiful with shellfish and crustaceans. Some anglers prefer the edges of the shoals adjacent to the beach, such as the inshore edges of the two fingerlike projections called the Broadkill Slough. Other groups of boat will congregate more inshore in shallower water (10-15 feet deep) 2 miles due east of Slaughter beach or Fowler beach to the south. On calmer days the fish seem to congregate more on the shallower water, preferring the deeper edges as the tide recedes or if the inshore spots are silted up.

Fishing on the Jersey side is done on the sloping edges of the Punk Grounds, Horseshoe, Banana Peel, or Pin Top. These sloping edges serve as a spot where mussels can grow, and serve as foraging areas for the avid bottom feeding drum.

Drum are schooling fish and move from one area to another in large groups which may number hundreds or thousands of individuals. Fishing will be good in different locations as the fish move about in search of food. These movements explain why the bite moves from area to area.

Drum can be easily spotted on a fishfinder, and their presence is duly noted by the vibrant drumming noise made by the males, who possess special muscles along side their swim bladders. This noise is more intense at night and during spawning. The intensity of the sound is quite amazing and the vibrations of the swim bladders can be felt by putting your hand on the cockpit floor.

FEEDING BEHAVIOR

Drum have the ability to crush the shells of clams, oysters, mussels, and crabs using their cobblestone like pharyngeal teeth, which can be seen at the sides of their throat when looking down their mouths. Drum use their 10-14 sensory chin barbels to find the buried bivalves and worms as they forage along the bottom with their tails pointing upward. Drum are also known to eat fish, and vegetation. Drum are so good at consuming these baits that they can be very devastating to an oyster bed if a large school begins feeding in one of these areas.

Chumming for these fish is useful as drum use scenting ability to help them locate foraging beds. Anchoring is standard procedure to draw these behemoths to your fishing spot. A bushel bag of surf clams is suitable for fishing a tide. Open the clams and save the belly and some thicker parts to help hold the bait on your hook. Some anglers prefer to tie the clam baits on using rigging thread. Use the remaining part of the clam as chum, breaking it up and chopping up the remaining entrails as you throw it all around your boat. Another bait gaining popularity are clam bellies which can be purchased in frozen plastic buckets. The bellies release a large amount of scent into the water and are advantageous for this reason. The bucket is best purchased the night before and allowed to sit out to thaw.

If you can fish away from the fleet, you have a better chance of drawing the drum to your boat. Being in a spot a hundred yards away is sufficient and can make the difference between catching fish or catching the skunk. Excessive chumming can be harmful as the amount of sharks drawn in can be amazing and annoying.

Other baits that can be used in conjunction with or separate from clams are crabs ( blue claw crabs-peelers or soft shell, or green crabs), squid, or bunker.

Despite their huge size, records being over 100 pounds, these creatures can bite with what feels like the a slight nudge and can remove a bait with scarcely a bend in the rod, particularly when using clams as bait. Like most of the fish we target, drum will bite more aggressively on some days then others. . Anglers traditionally fish with the rods in the rod holder and clicker on, setting the hook after a strong run is made. On many days, the fish will mouth the bait and the hook must be set before the drum drops the now emptied hook.

Understanding the feeding mechanism of drum enables you to fish effectively for them. These benthic explorers move along the bottom in search of food. When they find an appropriate meal they engulf it back to the pharyngeal area (throat) and chomp down on it with their pharyngeal teeth. In the case of a clam, mussel, oyster, or crab, these teeth crush the creature, and a swallowing motion begins as the drum tries to swallow the meaty portions and spit out the hard shell portions. These fish may also disgorge the bivalve in the crushed state and suck the now exposed flesh out of the meal.

This is what a drum does to your bait and explains how they can suck the clam off your hook and spit your hook back out. When these fish take your bait, they can pick it up with barely a perceptable sensation to the rod tip as the clam is passed to the back of the throat. Fish that are allowed to run with a bait can spit the hook out before you have a chance to set it.

Experience will help you detect the method the fish is taking the bait. Keeping the rod in your hand and setting the hook when sufficient weight is felt enables you to hook the fish at the proper time. Considering the size of these creatures, it is amazing how gentle their taking of a bait can be. Inattentive anglers will have a bait stripped without even being aware they had a fish on!

One of the benefits of drum fishing, is that it is not unusual to catch stripers at the same time, as they readily take drum baits. The feeding methods of drum provide a natural chum slick that draws stripers to the area. Clam bellies are particularly good baits for the stripers that join the foray. Keep in mind that as the water warms up, stripers will mainly feed at night, so the night trips for drum will more likely yield a large striper as a nice bonus to the trip.

RIGGING UP

Conventional reels like Penn Senators 4/0 are standard reels, spooled with 30 pound line and fished with a medium stout rod six to seven feet in length. While many of these fish can be caught with very light tackle, the close proximity of other boats will result in lost fish if the drum cannot be adequately controlled. The larger fish are powerful foes making pulsing strong runs and can be a challenge to land. The author once landed a 65 pound drum on a small spinning reel with 10 pound test, having to chase the fish with the boat to eventually subdue the creature.

Terminal tackle is a fishfinder set up with enough weight to hold bottom. These fish are almost strictly bottom feeders, so you want sufficient weight to keep your bait sitting on the bottom. Drum have been observed in shallow water with their tails in the air as they face head down, feeding on mussel beds. A two hook rig can be made using a 12 inch and a 48 inch piece of 50 pound monofilament attached to the same swivel. This double bait rig gives the fish one more bait to find if the angler misses the fish as it takes the first bait. Hooks are in the 7/0 to 9/0 class and can be snelled to the leader. Anglers often use treble hooks as well, to reduce the chance that a drum will spit out the hook without one of the barbs gaining a mouth hold.

LANDING THE FISH

Once brought to the surface, these drum are too large for a net. Gaffing is best done by slipping the gaff hook in the fishes mouth, then giving a sharp pull to puncture the gaff hook through the side of the mouth. Trying to gaff these fish in the body is a poor technique due to the toughness of the scales and may result in a lost fish.

CLEANING THE FISH

Drum are one of the more difficult fish to clean. Scaling a fish is next to impossible, and jokes have been made about using a garden hoe to scale them. Inserting a stiff knife along the backbone begins the process of carving the meat off the backbone, following the rib cage down and around frees the meat from the fish. The meat of the terminal tail section is generally discarded due to parasitism by “spaghetti worms,” the larval form of tapeworm Poecilancistrium robustum, which are seen as 1/4 inch thick white sheathed segments. If missed, thorough cooking renders them harmless.

DRUMMING

Fishing for drum is a fun way to spend a day with friends, having a chance to catch a fish over 50 pounds a reasonable possibility. Drum have been caught up to 146 pounds and the state record of NJ (105 pounds) and Delaware (115 pounds) may soon be broken. Current New Jersey regulations allow 3 fish over 16inches, but generally one fish per person is plenty tale fare. The added bonus of catching a striper on the trip, makes for an exciting day.