![]() Some of the most productive Great Lakes drum locations are in southwestern Ontario, where a good friend who guides there has a number of regular clients who hire him to target them specifically. In the summer most drum can be found along the edges of deeper channels in shallow sand and gravel flats, especially close to the mouths of tributaries, where they can be spotted with their heads down nosing on the bottom for mollusks, especially zebra mussels (I’ve had fish regurgitate clumps of crushed and intact shells of the latter while I’ve been unhooking them). Such is the case on my home river, the Moira. But some fish move into the lower stretches of rivers to spawn. Most spawning takes place on sandy or gravelly bottomed shallows between late April and early June as soon as the water temperature gets above around 17 degrees. They’re omnivorous, opportunistic feeders, foraging on anything from mollusks, invertebrates, and baitfish, which explains why they’re often taken incidentally by bait and hardware anglers in pursuit of more popular species. In North America, freshwater drum are widespread east of the Rockies,particularly in the Great Lakes and their tributaries, as well as the St. Therefore, it’s understandable that fly fishers are increasingly turning their attention to them. Yet freshwater drum, like their red saltwater cousins, are big, strong, and vigorous fighters when hooked-great sport on the fly rod. ![]() ![]() The tournament bass guys and walleye addicts loathe them, turning the air blue when they discover they’ve tied into one. ![]() This is most likely why most sport fishers rarely target them. All the rest, including the prized red drum or red fish as commonly called, live in salt or brackish water.Īlthough freshwater drum are fished commercially, their eating quality is only average. The freshwater drum or sheepshead ( Aplodinotus grunniens) is the only member of the Sciaenidae family which lives in fresh water. ![]()
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