Let's Drum Up Some Business

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Let’s Drum Up Some Business by Mike Scott

   Have you ever seen places in the shallow parts of the bay systems, where the sand has myriads of small holes in it? I have just described a place where black drum have been feeding. The name for this hole punching routine is “noodling” and it is particular to the drum. They root around in the sand, tail up, nose to the bottom, looking for crustaceans to eat.
   These fish have some predictable traits. In colder weather and on the tide they prefer, they wait till around 3 P.M., when the shell has become a heat generator to warm up and make comfortable their feeding area. Then in schools of 4 to 15, as a norm, they pillage the bottom, looking for crabs and shrimp.
   One group after another comes in and out of the area as if it were a ritual of sorts. The choice menu is shrimp, medium to large, and peeled. Have you reeled in to re-bait and noted that your shrimp is half peeled, the skin half on or half off? Many a nice drum is missed because he was doing what you should have done. I have seen these fish come across an open bay in a big school, creating an F-5 sand storm below the water’s surface, just like a cattle stampede! Here are some good tips for you.
   Always carry some shrimp on your expeditions. It would be wise to have some peeled and ready, because big schools do not sit still, they move through quickly. Carry binoculars because the water changes color where the big groups of drum are. And last, if a member of your party hangs a drum, be ready immediately to cast bait where they hung the fish. Fast and voracious feeders are they, and you must be ready.

Captain Mike Scott is a retired Texas Gulf fishing guide and commercial fisherman. Please feel free to contact Mike for any fishing questions through AlphaLane or by using his site email in our search page. Use Mike's CID which is 119 or simply search on category 'fishing'.

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