Pickwick 8-14-2013
 

Fished hard for 5 hours today and did not catch anything I went after. I fished 4 spots there and on a flat I had 10 big bass blow up on my Pop-R but didn't stick any of them. It was just tough today. So I made lemonade out of lemons. I went back to generator side and fished for drum in the cutback. About every 4 or 5 casts I would hook up with one and just for a few seconds think it was a big large mouth or Smallie....LOL. The drum were in the 4 to 6 pound range and the fight was good. Will try again tomorrow.


Regards

I bought some 3/8oz Kastmasters to try out on the tail waters I fish, usually JPP, Normandy or Center Hill. Based on your use and recommendation.

Impressed by how solid and simple they are.

Have you been using them at PKH or are you sticking with those river runners you mentioned? What size rod/line and how are you retrieving the KM?

All my gear is set up on TM size stuff that I've been teaching 3 boys on.

Billy

I will throw the 1/12 and 1/8 Kastmasters on 2# and 4# test but throw the 1/4 size and larger on 6# test fluorocarbon. There are times when I will get into a lot of bass at the one pound mark and will use the 2# or 4# test setups but let a 2 pound plus bass hit them and you have a big commotion going on.....LOL. It is not much fun reeling in a one pound bass on 6# test fluorocarbon....it is some strong stuff. So that is why I step it down to the smaller gear....but when doing that there will always be a couple of big ones hit the smaller size. I just use the River Rockers in the current in the tailrace. They work incredibly well and if largemouth are in there they will hit them hard. The drum were hitting them today but switched over to a jig so as not to have to deal with those trebles. I think this cold front had the fish turned off down there....for whatever reason they weren't in a feeding mood.


Regards

Hey Alpha, talking about trash fish! do you ever eat Drum? or do people around here eat this fish?? is it any good??, what is this fish considered?, game fish? sport fish, etc!! once I got into them buggers at Nickajack and kept on throwing them back in the water, good size too!! they put a great fight on 4 lb test, later I was wondering if I should have kept them and ask someone about eating this kind of fish but I was unsure of the regs and I did not wanted to find out the hard way!!

No size limit on drum. But my dad and I ate them once in MN. We call them sheepshead in the north. They were actually pretty tasty!

It's my understanding they are quite tasty. I have never had them but my mom and dad used to eat them back in the 40's.


Regards

Ahhhh yes the sheepshead......havent heard them called that since i moved here from michigan. Ive not eaten them myself....some people told me its good, others told me its pretty oily meat. lol....i think i will pass and opt to exercise my rights of catch and release on those. Ha! Oddly enough i have had smoked carp out of the cold great lakes and that was pretty good. The colder water temps play a big factor on how all fish taste.

They're related to the saltwater drum I assume. There are black drum and red drum that I used to catch in the Florida Bay. I ate several red drum (redfish) and they're excellent table fare. I can't imagine that the freshwater drum don't taste good. Merv cooked one and said it wasn't that bad tasting but he just wasn't a fan of the texture. People have their preferences there.

My father used to tell me that they fished for drum to eat (probably early 1940's). He also said that they were not the same as the ones we were catching when we fished together.
I kept a large one and cooked it several different ways. I preferred them fried and eaten when hot. Altogether different after cooking and cooling. Taste was good, however, texture is different than any fish I have eaten.

I have discussed this with others and would like to ask here. In the 80's when we boated drum they made a noise in their head. There was bones like stones in their head that made this noise. I have not heard this from any drum in the last several years. Anyone else ever hear this noise from drum?

Thanks for the reply guys!! I guess next time I catch one of these I will find out how good or bad they are on the table!!

I used to hear the drumming all the time from the ones in MN. Now that I think of it, I have not heard it hear yet. And yes, they have 2 large rocks/bones called otoliths. They can determine the age of the fish with them. All fish have an otolith, actually 2 of them, but very tiny in most fish.

I can tell you first hand that small to medium size drum are not bad at all. I will sometimes keep one to eat fresh and bake it in the oven. It's a white flaky fish just like most of the fish we chase after. I wouldn't say it is as good as crappie but I would most definately say it is as good or better than stripe or river catfish.

The ones I caught today you could feel the vibration but there was really not any noise. Going to have to try one in the skillet someday.



Regards

If you wanna catch alot of them go fish the Riverside dam along the Duck River in Columbia. Fished there a couple times awhile back and switched baits to avoid them. They would just hit the new one harder and more frequent. All were about 3 lbs maybe a lil bigger. First 4 were fun thought I was fighting a big smallie but then they became annoying. Caught a couple decent crappie on accident there, however, and they fit perfect in the frying pan.

I'd rather catch them than nothing, I'm gonna be up there Sunday morning with a buddy of mine.