By Capt. Mike Smith, Fish Your Ass Off Charters
Black drums, aka “Big Uglies,” are a super fun fish to catch. It doesn’t matter if they are 18 inches weighing two pounds or 5 footers weighing 90 pounds. They put up one heck of a drag-pulling fight once they figure out that they’re hooked.
Black drum can be found in inlets, saltwater estuaries, bays, river mouths, brackish creeks and especially anywhere in close proximity to oyster beds as they love to eat oysters, clams, crabs, shrimp and bait fish. They are often in huge schools and will stay in one spot for a week or so if there is a lot of food for them and not a lot of predators, which means that you can catch dozens of them when the bite is on.
My favorite way to target “big uglies” is on the incoming tide, in shallow estuaries, less than 3 feet deep. That is when you can see them tailing as they root around oyster clumps for crabs and shrimp. A well-placed shrimp or crab offering will get their attention very quickly. Make sure you have enough weight to get it to the bottom so they can find it.
Black drums have four nostrils, and their sense of smell is amazing, so the stinkier the bait, the better when targeting these fish. A great artificial bait is the Berkley Gulp shrimp on a 1/8 ounce jig head. You can just cast it to the fish and let it sit on the bottom and wait for them to find it. However, if you give it a bounce or two you will usually get their attention much more quickly.
Another great place to target “big uglies” is around docks. Dock pilings tend to have lots of oysters, clams, barnacles and sponges growing on them. Definitely fish the older docks with the most stuff growing on them. These dock pilings will attract the most crabs and shrimp to them. Old dock pilings are like grocery stores for black drum.
When I fish the docks for black drum I usually have one of two baits with me. Live or frozen shrimp or a scented shrimp jig. Those are my go-to baits for drum around the docks. Real shrimp works the best, but the scented jigs are pretty good too. A shrimp rigged with a small split shot is how I usually target black drum. Just cast it to where you think the fish are and wait for the hit. If you are fishing with a scented shrimp jig just bounce it slowly on the bottom as you reel it in. It is similar to the way that you would fish for a flounder. The slower the better.
For surf fishing anglers, large schools of black drum typically work their way up and down the beaches in the cooler months feeding on crustaceans. Use a beefed up pompano rig, jig or fish finder rig and place them in front of the schools approaching. Long casts are often needed, so be sure to have plenty of line capacity on your surf fishing reels when targeting the large ones. Not to mention, once you hook into a big drum the drag is going to go screaming! You’ll want anywhere from 20-50 lb. main line for your best opportunity to land one.
Black drum make for a tasty dinnertime treat, but I wouldn’t suggest eating the big ones. They are always full of worms. I find that the best ones for eating are 28 inches or less in length.
I caught the black drum in the picture above on a dead shrimp. It was about a 50 pounder and took 30 minutes to get it in. I saw it tailing next to an oyster bar.
Capt. Mike Smith, owner of Fish Your Ass Off Charters, is an inshore fishing guide who has been fishing the inshore waters, oyster bars and grass flats of Florida for more than 40 years. Reach him at (561) 339-2317, email: contact@fishyourassoff.com or visit fishyourassoff.com.
