black drum

It’s been a tough week of fishing here on the Space Coast! Winter has definitely been taking its toll around the entire region making water temps the among the lowest in years. This has made the bite very difficult, but on the flat and sunny days the black drum have been very cooperative. Large schools are hitting the flats in all three lagoon systems. These drum are using the sunny days to feed and have been getting up as shallow as possible feeding on crustaceans like small crabs, shrimp, and other small organisms.

My favorite way to catch these fish is on a light spinning setup with 20lb fluoro and a gulp or live shrimp rigged on an 1/8 oz jig-head, when looking for these fish use a stealth approach such as push poling, trolling motor, or wade fishing — if you can withstand the cool water temps. The majority of these large schools will be on the shallow flats that have a deep channel nearby. Also, large sandbars with lots of shell and even rocks throughout these bars will hold lots of heat and all sorts of prey for these large breeder black drum!

Be sure to handle with care, and release these fish as quick as possible, they are vital in creating our future generations to come!