Auglaize River crappie

[jhammer 0]

We had a nice cold rain for a couple days and I had a good hunch that the fish would be biting because of the higher water level and cooler temps. I grabbed my 8 weight and went out to the river looking for some carp and cats. However, no carp or cats were willing to cooperate, but the crappie were! I landed over 30 in two hours. Plus, a couple of drum thrown in for variety. I wish I would have brought my 6 weight because there wasn't much of a fight on an 8 weight...hahaha

 

The crappie were in attack mode or something because they looked like little striped bass busting minnows all over the place!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Margaretann 0]

Nice catch!

[tidewaterfly 0]

Sounds like a fun day! Have you ever eaten those Drum? I see on some bass sites that guys catch them on bass lures too! They look a lot like the Croakers we get in the Chesapeake Bay, and fresh caught Croakers are excellent table fare! Crappies aren't bad either!

[ditz2 0]

Hey Tidewaterfly.....I know that some folks eat drum but they have lots of small bones. I have never eaten them though because I don't like to mess with the bones.

[jhammer 0]

Sounds like a fun day! Have you ever eaten those Drum? I see on some bass sites that guys catch them on bass lures too! They look a lot like the Croakers we get in the Chesapeake Bay, and fresh caught Croakers are excellent table fare! Crappies aren't bad either!

 

I've never eaten one out of those rivers. There was an older gentleman I knew many years ago who swore they tasted like shrimp or lobster. He would filet them, boil them in saltwater, and put them in the fridge. Then, he dunked them in melted butter.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Thank guys! I was just wondering! Croakers have small bones too, but not like a Shad or a Pickerel. My father & mother were both fond of fish, so we ate a lot of fresh fish when I was growing up. Picking out the bones never bother me. From the pictures I've seen of freshwater Drum, they look very much like a Croaker, I was just wondering if they tasted as good!

[jhammer 0]

On one of the other fly fishing forums I haunt, there's a man from Louisiana who eats them just like Red Drum. He uses the same recipe for blackened red drum.

[tidewaterfly 0]

There is another saltwater species called a Black Drum, which also very much looks like the freshwater Drum you catch. They also come up into the Chesapeake Bay, but not in great numbers I don't think, at least not up as far as I live. They're found all along the Atlantic coast, at least from the mid Atlantic, south, and into the Gulf. I've caught small ones in the Inland Waterway in NC, and a few small ones here while bottom fishing with bait for other species. They do get very large however. They're another fine tasting fish, so I can see the same recipe used for them being the same as for Red Drum.

 

I've caught Croakers on flies, and a few Black Drum on flies in NC. I've caught Redfish here too, but again only on bait while fishing for other fish. I've yet to catch one on flies. It's on my "to do" list!

[agn54 0]

There is another saltwater species called a Black Drum, which also very much looks like the freshwater Drum you catch. They also come up into the Chesapeake Bay, but not in great numbers I don't think, at least not up as far as I live. They're found all along the Atlantic coast, at least from the mid Atlantic, south, and into the Gulf. I've caught small ones in the Inland Waterway in NC, and a few small ones here while bottom fishing with bait for other species. They do get very large however. They're another fine tasting fish, so I can see the same recipe used for them being the same as for Red Drum.

 

I've caught Croakers on flies, and a few Black Drum on flies in NC. I've caught Redfish here too, but again only on bait while fishing for other fish. I've yet to catch one on flies. It's on my "to do" list!

 

 

That's funny, I was thinking the same thing when I saw the picture. They do look a lot like croakers and similar to whiting as well (another member of the drum family). I've heard croakers are good to eat but have never tried them. I usually use them as bait, monster snook can't resist them. Whiting are delicious. Black drum are really only good to eat when they are smaller. The really big ones tend to be full of worms

[tidewaterfly 0]

The eating size Croakers I've caught have mostly been in the 10" to 16" long range, as well as the Black Drum. My father, who was from NC, always called them Puppy Drum. I can see using small Croakers as bait! Some folks here use small Spot as bait for live lining Striped Bass. I believe Spot are also related to the Drum's. Spot are tasty too if you can catch them big enough, which is usually no more than about 12 inches. I've caught Whiting on occasion in the surf, in both NC & here in MD, and agree they are delicious!

[agn54 0]

The eating size Croakers I've caught have mostly been in the 10" to 16" long range, as well as the Black Drum. My father, who was from NC, always called them Puppy Drum. I can see using small Croakers as bait! Some folks here use small Spot as bait for live lining Striped Bass. I believe Spot are also related to the Drum's. Spot are tasty too if you can catch them big enough, which is usually no more than about 12 inches. I've caught Whiting on occasion in the surf, in both NC & here in MD, and agree they are delicious!

 

Actually, 10-12 inch croakers are perfect for big snook (I'm talking 36 inch snook and bigger). Are spot usually smaller than croakers? We don't get too many down here, nothing like up in the Chesapeake. Those small drum are tasty. I'm not sure at what point they get the worms but I think it is when they pretty big. On the east coast inlets we usually catch them under ten pounds are they are great eating. The 40+ pounders are the ones usually thrown back.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Are spot usually smaller than croakers?

 

Yes, Spot don't get as big as Croakers do, at least not that I've ever seen. 36" Snook are big! The folks that use Spot for bait are usually using them at around 3 to 5 inches, but some will use them up to about 8 inches. Bigger Stripers can eat them even bigger than that, but the majority of the Stripers are under 30 inches by the time the Spot are arriving up in the bay.

 

I've seen pictures of Black Drum that were over 80 lbs, but it's likely the ones that big are mainly caught to satisfy ego's rather than appetites!