Baits can be fished stationary, but walking a bait along bottom can be more effective at triggering bites. Also try presenting baits just above bottom on float rigs. Small nightcrawlers and small chunks of cutbait work well, and crawdad tails might be one of the best baits of all.

Many drum are caught incidentally on artificial lures while fishing for other species. In fact, drum can strike lures with surprising accuracy, even in turbid conditions or when lures are presented quickly and off bottom. Their ability to track down baits in dingy water is likely due to their sharp sensory system, including a long lateral line that extends through the caudal fin.

Seward reported on methods for catching drum on artificial lures in rivers, but the same methods should be equally suitable for lakes and reservoirs. One of the best presentations he found was jigging bladebaits and spoons, noting that if you work over an area with a bladebait without catching a drum, they’re not there.

Bladebaits such as a Reef Runner Cicada or Heddon Sonar excel in current, and their tight vibration attracts drum. You lose quite a few that snag, Seward says, but they have no equal for big catches from shallow water down to 30 feet.

Work with spinning or casting setups with 15- to 20-pound mono. Superlines, like Berkley FireLine, provide added sensitivity for feeling baits on bottom and strikes in current. Cast upstream or cross-stream and let it settle to bottom. Lift the rod to pop the lure about two feet off bottom, then follow it down with the rod tip, reeling as it settles. Pop it again, continually jigging throughout the retrieve.

Crankbaits also are a premier drum bait and often they out-produce blades, Seward notes. Select crankbaits to match the depths of water you’re fishing. Get the bait running near bottom or bumping bottom as you reel.

In-Fisherman Field Editor Ned Kehde has tangled with his share of drum at Lake of the Ozarks and several eastern Kansas reservoirs. His biggest engulfed a 1/4-ounce black bucktail jig and 4-inch eel in 4 feet of water on a rock point on Lake of the Ozarks.

Kehde says that throughout the late winter and early spring, smallmouth anglers at several northeastern Kansas reservoirs catch untold numbers of drum on a 1/16-ounce jig dressed with a 2-inch YUM Wooly Beavertail.

In Perry Lake, Kansas, anglers fishing for white bass in early June get into some of the most exciting drum fishing of the year. During this time, drum and white bass cohabit several offshore areas in depths ranging from 10 to 20 feet.

Kehde says that one the most enjoyable ways to catch drum, along with lots of white bass, is to use a baitcasting outfit spooled with 20-pound-test mono that sports a tandem rig, consisting of a Fishtech Double W Shad Flutter Spoon and a marabou jig. The best color for spoons and jigs typically is chartreuse. The jig is attached 10 inches above the spoon by a loop knot.

Anglers position their boats in deep water and cast the spoon-and-jig combo into shallow water, retrieving the combo by slowly hopping and dragging it along the bottom contours.

At times, they find that retrieving the spoon and jig from deep to shallower water is more effective. Besides catching numerous white bass, anglers commonly catch drum. It’s not unheard of to hook up with two good-sized drum on one cast.

Good times drummin’—the invitation’s open to a party near you.