Thunder Drum

The transition from winter to spring delivers obstacles to anglers on the Texas coast from the Coastal Bend south to the Mexican border. As the calendar steps out of the coldest season, southerly winds transport an amazing amount of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into central portions of North America. The city of Corpus Christi ranks high among the windiest cities in the United States, and spring is its windiest season.

Along the beachfront, this fact affects anglers both positively and negatively. The turbulent, windy weather cycles push strong currents and nutrients near the shore. A variety of baitfish and predators ride the currents right into the reach of anglers on the beach. But, when the chaotic winds linger for weeks, fishing can become difficult or even impossible in the surf. When the surf waters run brown and foamy, I often seek an alternate avenue to fulfill my craving for tangling with really large fish.

Predictably, the coming of spring brings an invasion of breeding black drum into the waters of the Laguna Madre. These spawners are sometimes called big uglies or big nasties by the people who target them on rod and reel. These old, adult fish look quite different than the puppies they produce; they're almost like prehistoric dinosaurs.

Fully mature black drum can attain weights in excess of 70 pounds, and they provide anglers like me loads of fun when they're hooked on medium-light tackle. The current state record black drum here in the Lone Star State measured 51 inches in length and weighed 81 pounds, but fish half that size are strong enough to provide a blast to anglers looking for a hearty fight. So this time of year, when the beachfront waters are blown out, but I still want to have some fun, I switch gears, load up the kayak and head into the bay on the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway.

My main target area spans from Demit Island, lying north of the JFK Causeway, south to about Bird Island Basin. Schools of breeding black drum roam out of the gulf and into these waters, using the Packery Channel and the ICW as their highways. At times, they're concentrated in such high numbers it becomes possible to feel the reverberations of their drumming through the hull of a boat or kayak. Needless to say, this is music to my ears!

After packing its rod holders full of long rods and other appropriate gear, I love to search for schools with the fish finder on my trusty Viking kayak. When I find some, I like to anchor in the shallows along the edge of the deep channels and send my baits into the depths. Drum are voracious bottom feeders, eating anything from small dead fish to shrimp and blue crabs. Generally, larger drum prefer larger bites of food.

Many anglers targeting drum show a preference for using sea lice, aka mantis shrimp, as bait. These odd looking crustaceans have hard shells and are capable of producing a fast, powerful snap with their bodies when threatened. Though they're somewhat difficult to handle, they work great as bait for the big uglies in excess of 40 inches. When targeting these brutes, I always use my Catch Sharks Drum Master leaders.

These leaders provide proper balance to distance the bait away from the coated 8/0 or 9/0 hook, whether I'm using mantis shrimp or something even harder, like a blue crab. Whether hooked in the tail or head, a mantis shrimp will attract gafftops and stingrays, in addition to the drum. If I start getting too many bites from other species when targeting a big drum, I often switch over to the most hardy bait of all.

Hands down, the absolute best bait to use when targeting big black drum is fresh blue crab. The bigger drum actively feed on these common crustaceans, and no crab is too big for the mightiest big nasty. Depending on the severity of the ending winter, blue crabs can be hard to find. One or two severe cold snaps or consistently colder than normal temperatures throughout the winter can reduce the crab population and make them scarce at the bait stands in early-spring.

In some situations, even when they're available, the crabs fetch a high price, up to as much as four dollars each. I normally don't like doling out so much money for any kind of bait, but if the goal is to catch a big drum, the payoff can be handsome. So I accept the need to put out the money in this case, when my desire to tangle with big fish sends me away from the frothing waters of the surf into the relatively calm stretches of the bay.

Blue crabs are durable, especially the largest ones, which I personally prefer when I'm targeting giant black drum. I like to cut the full adult crabs down to about half to three-quarters in size before putting them onto the hook. I cut off all their appendages, including the claws, to streamline them and facilitate better hook-sets. This plan creates a problem, exposing the internal meat and other goodies, which can fling out of the shell during a cast.

At times, I will leave the rod in the holder and kayak the bait into the middle of the channel and drop the bait in, to prevent tossing all the attractive parts of the crab out while casting. Another issue with cut-crabs occurs when the water is warmer than usual, and pesky pinfish and other small fish pick the meat out of the shells. When these things become bothersome issues, I use bigger portions or whole crabs, without cutting them at all.

This winter, all the main drum baits have been available. However, when both crabs and sea lice are hard to come by, I've found a new favorite replacement for them―live crawfish.I like to take two or three and thread them onto a single hook, through their tails. Because they're not ultra durable and can fling off during casts, I often kayak the baits into the channel and drop them gently into the water. A pound of live crawfish can generate big success on drum-hunting trips. I've also used both squid and octopus successfully to target breeding drum.

Our winter/spring big ugly fishing can be amazing; these slimy rascals stink, but they're a heck of a lot of fun to catch. They can't be kept to eat, but photos of the beasts record the outcome of the fun forever. Years ago, while trying to film a TV show about shark fishing in early-spring, conditions rendered the endeavor impossible, so we ended up targeting big drum instead. Not surprisingly, the show was well received, mostly because we had accepted the conditions we were given and made the most of the situation.

All of us who love fishing the surf are forced to adapt on a regular basis, especially during the turbulent time when winter blooms into spring. Ideally, we take advantage of the optimal windows of opportunity to target jacks and sharks while the water warms and the cold season ends. We also return inland when conditions ruin these pursuits and seek to quench our thirst for thrills in a search for the rumbling thunder of breeding black drum.