Every once in a while when least expected, freshwater drum send you an invitation to their party. The surprise call comes while hopping a jig for smallmouths, running a crank for walleyes, or pitching a plastic worm for bass. “Check me out,” a big drum might say, as it hits stomping hard and bends your rod double, matching the pulling power of the toughest fish in freshwater. “Just hang with us and you’re in for good times.”

Yet, most anglers RSVP with regrets only, likely because they don’t care to associate with the supposed rough-fish crowd. That’s unfortunate, because the sporting qualities of drum are comparable to many hard-fighting gamefish. They reach a large size, too, with the 54.5-pound world record caught in Nickajack Lake, Tennessee. And those who haven’t tasted drum would be surprised how good properly prepared drum can be.

Drum Curiosities

Freshwater drum have the largest north-to-south native distribution of any North American freshwater fish—extending over 2,500 miles from Manitoba in Canada to Guatemala in Central America—so they’re available to a large segment of the angling population. In the U.S., drum are abundant throughout the Mississippi and Missouri river drainages and inhabit the Great Lakes (except the Lake Superior watershed). While well adapted to rivers, they also thrive in lakes and impoundments throughout their range.

The unique characteristics of freshwater drum make them one of the most curious fish swimming in North America’s inland waters. They’re the only member of the drum family to naturally inhabit freshwaters of this continent. Their extended range brings many local names: silver bass, gaspergou, sheepshead, and grunter, to name a few. They also have extra-large ear stones, which have been collected as good-luck charms and for jewelry. When dug up by archaeologists these bones help piece together knowledge of ancient settlements.

Specialized tendons contract muscles along the air bladder of male drum, giving them the ability to produce their characteristic drumming sound. Drumming becomes more frequent as the Spawn Period approaches and is believed to signal females for mating purposes.

Another unique trait of freshwater drum is that they release floating eggs. Fertilization takes place during broadcast spawning, likely in open water areas. The buoyant eggs float to the surface where they hatch in a day or two. Spawning usually begins when water temperature reaches the mid-60ºF range and can last into mid-summer.

Drum primarily feed on bottom, consuming items such as nymphs of mayflies, caddisflies, and midges, along with other types of invertebrates like amphipods and crayfish. Equipped with powerful pharyngeal teeth, drum can crush hard shells, making mussels (including zebra and quagga mussels), snails, and other mollusks favored foods. As drum grow larger, baitfish can become a component of their diet.

Although drum are well adapted to living in rivers, abundant populations also occur in lakes and impoundments across its range. In fact, the state-record list slightly favors lakes and reservoirs for giant drum.

Auburn University researchers found that in Alabama drum grew faster and had better body condition in rivers compared to reservoirs. Interestingly, this was the case for drum less than 12 years old. The oldest and largest drum (ages 13 to 34) grew better, lived longer, and attained larger sizes in reservoirs. The researchers suggest that the ability of older and larger drum to grow better in reservoirs may be linked to a diet of fish, citing several studies showing that fish such as shad and minnows appear in drum diets in reservoirs and lakes.

Location

While few scientific investigations have directly explored habitat use and movement of adult freshwater drum, some studies provide locational connections. One study, for example, conducted on western Lake Erie, linked habitat use with drum diets. Food habits revealed that adult drum primarily feed over two habitat types—deepwater mud bottoms and shoals, taking advantage of a range of forage types offered in each habitat.

Finding drum in standing and flowing waters might best be achieved by making connections to their life history requirements, particularly with food preferences, spawning habitats, and current positioning in rivers. Although at times drum can be scattered and difficult to pattern—likely another reason drum don’t have a big following—some experienced anglers have a handle on where to start.

In lakes and reservoirs, look for drum cruising flats, bars, points, and shallow humps. Areas where you’d likely find smallmouth bass and walleyes may also hold drum. Check mussel beds, if they exist. Drum might be feeding on crayfish and baitfish along riprap banks, rockpiles, and other areas that attract these types of forage.

“I used to catch plenty of drum fishing Iowa’s natural lakes years ago,” says In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange. “One of my favorite ways to fish was wading on a rock reef in early summer, flipping portions of crawdad tail or small crawlers for perch, smallmouth bass, and drum.

“In areas I found smallmouths, particularly on rocky reefs and points, drum were there, too,” he says. “I’d see just a lone drum cruising here and there, or a group of fish would move through. There seems to be a connection between smallmouth habitat and drum location, at least in those lakes. Also, neckdown areas—narrows between two sections of a lake or reservoir—are top spots for drum.”

In rivers, drum concentrate in tailwaters from spring into summer. Andrew Rypel, who studied drum in Alabama for his master’s degree, says: “Drum gather in deep eddies during the day and move more and shift closer to shore at night, presumably to feed. Lengthy stretches of riprap are good spots. They leave tailraces by midsummer, moving downstream to river sections with deeper holes, rock cover, and current breaks. Boulders and riprap near deep water are particularly attractive to drum, especially at night.”

Tom Seward, a lure designer, wrote about his tactics for freshwater drum in rivers in a previous issue of In-Fisherman. He reported that drum are sensitive to current speed and direction. Current edges with appropriate bottom structure funnel drum into distinct areas.

Seward says that in strong current, drum hold close to banks in pockets of reduced current behind obstructions. When flows decline, they spread to midriver locations along channels and edges of flats.

As spawning approaches, when water temperatures move up to the low to mid-60ºF range, drum move onto river flats after assembling on the edge of big flats during Prespawn, Seward says. Drum are active, and if current slackens, they disperse over the flat. Faster currents concentrate them along the edges of flats close to the main channel. He finds the best fishing is during the evening or on overcast days.

In summer, some drum occupy deep holes, but most relate to edges of flats in about 10 feet of water, even shallower along riprap banks. Also look for them along narrow extensions of flats extending into the main channel, he says, particularly on the downstream side.

Presentation

Present natural baits on a #1 hook on slipsinker, split-shot, or three-way rigs, matching sinker weight to get baits to bottom in current. Although we haven’t tried circle hooks, those in about a 1/0 size should work well on a drum’s soft fleshy mouth. A 7-foot medium to medium-heavy spinning rod and reel spooled with 10- to 17-pound mono makes a fine setup for fishing natural baits.

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.