Most of my friends have come to understand that I love fish and game meat and preparing it for the table is one of my passions. I can remember fishing with a guide fifteen or so years ago that ran trips during the winter months where he targeted freshwater drum. He had several clients that fished with him during the warm weather months for white bass and stripers but when the water got cold and the drum began to stack up in huge schools around deep humps and ridges, they continued to put fish in the boat and… in the skillet! Often referred to as “trash fish” drum are not only great fun to catch but also some of the best table fare in the lake.
Before you think old Luke has gone off the deep end, I challenge you to “test” fry a few drum fillets, you don’t have to go out to specifically target drum, at least not at first. Chances are pretty good you will catch and occasional drum while fishing for crappie with live minnows during the winter months. When filleting the fish, keep the drum fillets separate so that you can do your own test comparison. We will discuss a few tips that, when you do discover drum are excellent eating, will help you fill a 54 quart with these tasty fish!
Drum will stack up in huge schools near bottom during the winter. Look for them on the bottom near steep drop offs or deeper holes in lower lake flats. At Lake Caddo, we recently found them in a deep wash out situated on a bend of the Cypress River Channel. I’ve caught drum on a wide variety of baits. They will hit artificials such as crappie jigs but keep in mind that drum have a relatively small mouth; use smaller hooks, no larger than a #2 crappie hook. Case hardened #4 bait holder hooks work even better. Minnows cut into one-thirds make excellent bait, as do small crawfish but the number one bait when specifically targeting freshwater drum is live night crawlers, they simply cannot resist them!
In cold water, drum often only “bump” the bait rather than strike it hard as they do when the water is warm but, once hooked a two pound drum puts up quite a battle, especially on light spinning gear. As with any fish, the smaller of the species are always the best eating. When drum fishing, it’s not uncommon to occasionally hook up with a bigger fish weighing ten pounds or more. I release all these larger fish. The majority of drum you find in these huge schools will weigh 1.5 to 3 pounds, the perfect size for eating. It’s important to place the drum on ice immediately on warmer days to insure the fillets are at their best when exposed to cornmeal and hot cooking oil.
Drum fillets are much thicker near the head or “shoulders” of the fish than at the tail. When cleaning larger drum, make sure and remove the strip of red meat during the filleting process. Just like with stripers or white bass, this greatly enhances the flavor. Drum fillets are not only tasty when fried but one of my favorite methods of cooking them is blackening in a cast iron skillet. Drum Fillets can best be described as “meaty” rather than “flakey” like crappie fillets.
For all those of you that are still shaking your heads about this idea of eating freshwater drum, consider the redfish (RED DRUM). Yes the redfish that became so popular as a candidate for blackening several decades ago is also a DRUM, just like it’s cousin the freshwater drum. The black drum run down on the coast will be taking place in a few weeks in places such as the Galveston jetties. While many of these fish are huge, weighing over 20 pounds, I learned years ago that the smaller ones are very good eating.
The yellow bass is another often overlooked freshwater species that, in my opinion, is the best eating fish in freshwater. I know these words are blasphemy for those that believe crappie is the king of the skillet but I challenge you to downsize your baits and hooks and spend a few hours filling the cooler with yellow bass. Like freshwater drum, they will hit small jigs but I’ve found bits of cut minnow on a small hook to be best way of catching them. Most of these fish will average about 10-12 inches but their flavor is excellent. There is no limit on the number of yellow bass that may be kept so it’s possible to “stock the freezer” with them. Yellow bass fillets are better, in my opinion, than white bass fillets, even when the white bass are properly cleaned and all the “red meat” removed. When filleting yellow bass, you will discover they have almost no blood line or red meat.
Another big advantage to fishing for these overlooked species is the fact that where you catch one, you can often catch a bunch. They are a perfect species to get kids hooked on fishing.
FUN TIME AT MEN’S CHURCH BREAKFAST- I was invited to talk about the outdoors this past weekend at the Crandall First Baptist Church men’s breakfast. When I entered the gym, heading to the dining room, I was pleased to see the pastor’s daughter, a tournament archer, and others actively involved in introducing youngsters to archery. I enjoyed some great food and not only sharing some of my experiences as an outdoors writer the past quarter-century but listening to the hunting stories of many of the members. Sportsmen and sportswomen love to talk about hunting and fishing, whether it’s around the campfire or at a church sponsored event!
Listen to Outdoors with Luke Clayton and Friends on radio stations from Nebraska to Texas on weekends or anytime online at www.catfishradio.com. Contact me via the website with outdoor news from your neck of the woods. If you have a topic you would like to discuss on my radio show, let me know. We will discuss you being a guest on an upcoming show.