Black Drum

The black drum is a chunky, high-backed fish with many barbels or whiskers under the lower jaw. Younger fish have four or five dark vertical bars on their sides but these disappear with age. The bellies of older fish are white but coloration of backs and sides can vary greatly. Fish from Gulf waters frequently lack color and are light gray or silvery. The black drum has cobblestone-like teeth capable of crushing oysters. Young black drum under 8 inches prefer to eat worms and small fish, but after 8 inches the black drum uses its pharyngeal teeth to consume a diet of mollusks, such as oysters, clams and mussels. Those living in muddy bay waters have dark gray or bronze-colored backs and sides. Some are solid silvery gray or jet black. A length of six inches is reached in the first year, 12 inches the second and 16 inches the third. Increases of about two inches per year occur after that. This fish is a member of the croaker family and is related to the Atlantic croaker, red drum, and spotted sea trout. A characteristic of this family of fish is the ability to produce croaking or drumming sounds with the air bladder, which is the reason for the common names croaker and drum. This ability is most developed in the black drum and anglers can sometime hear sounds from schools passing near their boats. Drum are found in the clearest water of sand flats and in the muddiest waters of a flooding slough. They thrive in water so shallow that their backs are exposed, and also in the Gulf waters more than 100 feet deep. They are found in extremely warm shallow flats and survive better than many other fish in freezing weather. They are attracted to freshwater runoff of creeks and rivers, yet can live in waters twice as salty as the Gulf of Mexico. This adaptability makes the black drum available to more anglers than any other bay fish. The black drum is found along the Atlantic Coast from New York south through the Gulf states to Mexico.

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Black Drum