Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-05-31
Wont to Cotch Big Fish? Then Try Black Drum;
5O-Pounders Not Uncommon on Nearby Coast
BY CHARLES COvELL
Outdoor Editor

=.
outdoor Editor
Among the fishes,
there's something remark
ably porcine about a black
drum.
Like a big hog it roots
with blunt snout for tasty
tidbits TO crush. Its large fat
teeth easily dispose Of CLAIMS,
oysters, crabs or mussels.
The black drum frequents
the sloughs, shoals and surf
OF the nearby Atlantic Coast
where 1t Is now fair game for
anglers. To catch one you make
messy bait the size Of q mans
INST. composed Of peeler crab
and shucked clans threaded on
a big hook and held together
by rubber band.
Ask the average fisherman
how q black drum fights and
he'll answer:
Like an old rubber boot"
Calls Drum Fighters
Don't say that to AL Phillips
Of Wachapreague. Va, or you'll
get a king-sized argument.
Rubber boot?" he'll snort.
'sYou hook q 7O-pounder on So
pound line and see If they Tight
like q rubber boot. I had one
on last night that / thought
] had licked. Just as ! reached
out with the gaff, the fish took
of for the outer shoal. It
stripped every inch of line on
my reel and kept on going.
RED drum (channel bass)
or black drum, I like 'em both.
AS a matter Of fact, black drum
Is better eating"
That was where he laid him.
self open to another argument.
Nobody seems to agree. but on
the Eastern Shore Of Virginia
most Of those who eat them
rate the two fish about equal.
Travels Confuse Veterans
Pogonias cromis, the black
drum, is a member Of the FAM
lily Sciaenidae. Like other
croakers it is primarily q warm
water fish, appearing OF Cape
Charles and travelling gradually
north during May.
This year its travels have
confused shore veterans, be-
cause the black drum has been
late. Usually they precede the
channel bass, their cousins.
This year they are following
them.
The chief attribute Of the
black drum is its size because
most fishermen agret that it
lacks the tenacity Of the chan
mel bass. Neither is given to
jumping but make long. doggcd
runs.
World Record "a Pounds
Fifty-pound black drum are
not uncommon and the world
record is a 94-pounder caught
Of Cape Charles in 1857.
Blacks and some channel bass
have been caught lately from
Wachapreague to Ocean City,
where a few have been taken
In the surf on Assateague
Island.
Phillips, q welder who has
found temporary period of
unemployment fitting in very
nicely with his fishing plans,
goes after them with an out
board. So do many other East
ern Shore natives or those who
can trail their boats to the |
shore.
Charter boats are available |
at Wachapreague and Chinco-
league while surf anglers may
try Assateague Preached by
ferry) or islands to the south
ward such as Wallops, Cedar,
Parramore or Hog,
AIS boat is a Skipper Craft, |
q 16-foot runabout built on the |
Eastern Shore. It is powered
by a 30-horse johnson. From |
Wachapreague to Hog Island |
where the fish had been biting
1t is perhaps a I5-mile run
through the channels and
marshes, interspersed by wide
bays.
Catches 4 in One Night
We were his guest and as we
bounced at full throttle across
the flats and out through Little
Machipongo Inlet into the
uninterrupted Atlantic, we dis
cussed drum fishing. AL had
caught four and lost one the
night before at the spot toward
which we were heading.
Anchoring just on the break.
ers at the north end of Hog
Island, we rugged fish, finder"
outfits with 36-pound line, 4
ounce sinkers on sliding swivels
ana No. 9 hooks on wire leaders.
Only one or two boats were
IN the vicinity. but beyond a
Anoal a mile or so offshore