Black Drum Haul 6/4 - 6/7, 2011

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by shellman

Big nasty parade....

The kids love the fight these big drum can put up and are plumb wore out 30-45 minutes later when the drum gets to the net. Yes, they are a bit hard to clean, and drum fillets should be added to list of things that one should never see being made. But properly trimmed and prepared drum are one of the kids favorite fish to eat also. The day after the girls caught their big drum, my two boys caught their big drum in the same spot which really helped my older son's (12) enthusiasm after having a big fish break off earlier in the week. I have to admit, I also get the same adrenaline dump fighting a big drum as a big redfish.



The picture above is my brothers and I after our best day fishing in our youth (Calcasieu Pass, June 1977). It was a few days after my 10th birthday. It seemed like my dad would often get a report of where the fishing was hot in the Lake Charles area, and we would get there a day or two late or be using a wrong technique, so we got skunked a lot. (OK, not really skunked, we caught a lot of croaker, hardheads, and puppy drum). When we did occasionally hook into a big fish, our equipment and skill level were not up to the task. I used a Zebco 202 on a red, white, and blue "Spirit of '76" Zebco rod most of the time. My grandpa gave my twin brother and I some higher end gear for our 10th birthday, and we caught the big drum in the picture on our next trip. (I'm the boy holding the smaller drum.)