Massive schools of 50-pound breeder black drum have invaded the lower end of Boca Ciega Bay, and what an awesome sight they are. At first these huge fish look like giant red drum because of their light coppery appearance. The black bars that appear on juvenile black drum disappear as they mature.
Unlike red drum, these drum have whisker-like barbels under their chins, which they use to feel when foraging the bottom for crabs and other crustaceans. That's not to say they won't chase small baitfish or artificial bait, as Dr. Henry Schultz of Minnesota recently found out.
Schultz was jig-fishing for speckled trout when the school of drum appeared. Casting into the school with the light trout tackle, he hooked up. The fight raged for nearly 30 minutes before the brute came to net.
Black drum aren't the only targets right now. Speckled trout fishing has really picked up as the bay has warmed. Motor-oil jigs fished slowly on grass flats in 3 to 4 feet draw many strikes. Live shrimp under a cork also draw strikes, but jigs will outproduce shrimp at least two to one.
Don't forget sheepshead, which will be abundant through spring. They have a generous bag limit of 15 per person a day (12-inch minimum from point of head to rear center of tail). Crabs, oysters, shrimp, barnacles and mussels work.
- Rick Frazier runs Lucky Dawg Charters out of St. Petersburg and can be reached at 727 510-4376 or by e-mail at captainrick@luckydawg.com
