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How many of you live in an area where they are caught and eaten?

How are they prepared, canned, baked, smoked, fried?

AND

no, none of the, . . . put them on a plank and eat the plank answers are in in any way useful ! ! !

I am looking for regional differences in opinion about the fish itself as well as recipes

Last edited by LouisB; 05/23/17.

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An acquaintance from years ago had a wife that was into gourmet cooking. They thought fresh water drum tasted better than redfish if it was blackened. Look up a recipe for blackened redfish. Blackened pike is also very good.

Last edited by norske; 05/23/17.
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I believe that's the same fish we call sheephead up here. Catch them frequently by accident while fishing for walleyes, but I've never tried eating them. I'd be curious to hear what others have to say about this, as it would sure be easy to supplement the meal with a couple of these. Do they cook up and eat just like other fried fish?


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Back when I used to Crappie fish a lot, I would catch them occasionally, but usually threw them back. For some reason I kept one one day and filleted it along with the crappie. My neighbor and fishing buddy was at the house when I was eating those fish, and I gave him one of the fillets. He said, "We are not throwing any more of those back." They are sold at the fish market here, along with Buffalo and catfish. I knew they were good, but seldom kept them but threw them back along with any bream or bass, all good eats. miles


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The only ones I have caught were while fishing the river I fish for smallies.

Great fighters and all returned for another day.

Guess I could have googled this, but really prefer answers from folks that have "Been There, Done That".

One thing I just found googling it . . .

http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/recipes/DrumandChips.htm


I'm thinking they probably have really good water quality for them also.
I also found a site that mentioned that they hang with Walleyes

AND

Yes, they are called Sheepshead in some areas.


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Yup we call them Sheepheads up here also! Also poor mans Lobster, cut meat into 1" chunks boil in salt water, the flesh will get a bit of a rubbery feel dip in Melted butter! very tasty!


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We call them gasper goo or red eyes here in Texas. We used to catch them on plastic worms or jigs while fishing bass tournaments at night in the summer time. When you would get them to the top and shine the light on them their glowing red eyes were the first thing you saw. Fry 'em up w/catfish and put them on the same platter and no one will know the difference. powdr

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Hot June or July day on riverbank by gravel bar and a bucket of crawfish! Catch graspers all damn day!!

Eat hell out of em.


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We have them in eastern Montana too--and they taste very good too!


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I've been catching drum since I was a boy. They make fine table fare.


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Deep fried just like Cat. Great eating. Fighters too!


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Are they bony life buffalo?

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freshwater drum and sheepshead are different fish.
they both eat good, but are bony and take extra care
when cleaning.

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used to catch them up in Wisconsin,,,,haven't caught one since I joined Uncle Sam's employ back in 79,,,,,may catch one again one day on a boondoggle,,,,,,,,


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On the Upper Mississippi, we call them sheepshead as well. I actually call them sheep of the deep or sea mutton. Sheepshead aren't my favorite, but if filleted properly, make fine table fair. I usually, in June or July, catch a bunch of them for a fish fry that we have at a local bar. Everyone seems to enjoy them. When you clean them, they have a lot of red meat on the skin, so angle the blade up when skinning the fillet. Also, we just keep the top portion of the fillet, so just make sure when filleting, that the end result is a white chunk of meat. Simply dredge in breading, and drop in the oil.

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LouisB Offline OP
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Freshwater Drum/Sheepshead

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum

Saltwater version

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archosargus_probatocephalus


Dang Record was caught here in TN . . . 54 pounds

I think a 10 pounder is a Monster fish

Of course on UL gear with 4# test, even a redeye is a monster

Last edited by LouisB; 06/12/17. Reason: add info

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I caught one that was right around 30 pounds when I was in college. I caught him on an UL throwing a white Roadrunner for sandbass in a small creek that runs into lake Texoma. I was certain that I'd hooked a big striper and a little disappointed when it turned out to be a drum. Tossed him up on the bank without so much as a snapshot as they're considered trash fish around these parts.

I catch them semi regularly while catfishing, think I'll try the next one I catch. Never knew white people to eat them but I'm curious to try it.

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Before they closed John Sevier stem plant to the public we would go fish the warm water discharge at night. We took a red light and would catch craw dads in the shallows and hook them on a #6 hook with a #3 splitshot above it, bites all night long. We never tried eating one. 5 remember when I was in high school a friend caught a huge one and we took it home. It was God awful. We didn't know how to clean them. Now I know the red meat down the center of the fillet and against the skin is what makes any fish really strong. I'd be willing to try it. I catch them in the spring while crappie fishing and in the winter while fishing small hair jigs for smallmouth.

Last edited by seal_billy; 06/14/17.

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Went catfishing this evening and landed a small drum, 1 1/2 pounds or so. Brought him home and filleted him. So far so good, I cut the red meat off just like a sandbass or striper and I was left with two firm and pure white filets. I'll drop them in the grease this weekend and report back.

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Update: Fried fish for Father's Day and cooked up the drum. Kept him separate incase it was awful, and let each man in the family have a chunk. Consensus, tasted just like white flaky fried fish. I would bet a shiny nickle there isn't a person on earth who could have discerned it from crappie or sandbass that has been cleaned properly. Bottom line is that they will likely no longer be trash fish around our place.

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