Nice afternoon fishing: Took the girl friend out yesterday. Water temp at boat landing 89 went to back waters was 86 when we started fishing a little slow small bluegill then got a 2.5...

Whitereb Loc: Lake Guntersville Alabama

Took the girl friend out yesterday. Water temp at boat landing 89 went to back waters was 86 when we started fishing a little slow small bluegill then got a 2.5 lb blue I got a bass then she hooked a 4lb drum small bluegill in between water got to 83 picked up a little I got 3 more cats channel she got another drum and a keeper bluegill still getting small ones I got 2 keepers and 5&7 lb drum anyone ever eat freshwater drum ? I heard they were real boney.

Ben Bragg Loc: Dayton Ohio

I was talking to a guy last. Ishtar and have heard this before
Drum are edible. I e em down immediately.
Chose fish under 6 pounds
Fillet and remove all red meat. This will leave you with a back strap
Cut into cubes and boil in a strong brine.
My first source said a pound of salt second source said far less salt and vinegar in water
This is supposed to resemble lobster in taste and texture.
Never tried it myself but always have been curious

Whitereb Loc: Lake Guntersville Alabama

Thanks bb I’ll keep the next one and try let you know

DCGravity Loc: Fairfax, VA (by way of Cleveland OH)

Whitereb wrote:

Took the girl friend out yesterday. Water temp at boat landing 89 went to back waters was 86 when we started fishing a little slow small bluegill then got a 2.5 lb blue I got a bass then she hooked a 4lb drum small bluegill in between water got to 83 picked up a little I got 3 more cats channel she got another drum and a keeper bluegill still getting small ones I got 2 keepers and 5&7 lb drum anyone ever eat freshwater drum ? I heard they were real boney.

Used to catch sheepshead (freshwater drum) along with perch and walleye on Lake Erie growing up. Kept them all. I had the inglorious job of cleaning them after we got home; I was too naive to check if my parents were violating any local ordinances regarding child labor at the time. Anyways, when fileting sheepshead, you don't want to slice too close to the skin, the fat is what makes it taste fishy--also trim off as much of the bloodline as possible which contributes to the fishy taste. Trim off the fat along the dorsal fin and areas close to the belly. And yes it is boney unless you trim off the the part of the filet containing all the pin bones, which is towards the front above the ribcage. The texture is firmer than perch/walleye, which was more flaky. Otherwise it tastes fine!

Big A Loc: Mesa, Arizona

Whitereb wrote:

Took the girl friend out yesterday. Water temp at boat landing 89 went to back waters was 86 when we started fishing a little slow small bluegill then got a 2.5 lb blue I got a bass then she hooked a 4lb drum small bluegill in between water got to 83 picked up a little I got 3 more cats channel she got another drum and a keeper bluegill still getting small ones I got 2 keepers and 5&7 lb drum anyone ever eat freshwater drum ? I heard they were real boney.

PLEASE define fresh-water drum
for those of us who may be un-informed ? Under what other
name might I know them ?

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Big A wrote:

PLEASE define fresh-water drum
for those of us who may be un-informed ? Under what other
name might I know them ?

The freshwater drum is also called Russell fish,shepherd's pie, gray bass,[5] Gasper goo, Gaspergou,[6] gou,[6] grunt, grunter,[5] grinder, wuss fish, gooble gobble, and croaker. It is commonly known as sheephead, and sunfish in parts of Canada,[7] the United Kingdom,[8] and the United States.[5][6][9][10]

A you remember a while back WV Mike posted pictures of his "lucky stone" collection? Those came out of freshwater drum. According to Wikipedia they're one of the most wide ranging North American fish. Really? I've never caught one or even seen one and I've been around.

Whitereb Loc: Lake Guntersville Alabama

I caught my first one in March did not know what it was either. Took a pic and ask people that grew up here around lake Guntersville I’ll take another pic next one the first one caught it on a jig crappie fishing. Found a pic

Whitereb Loc: Lake Guntersville Alabama

If you know it by a different name please share.

Big A Loc: Mesa, Arizona

Whitereb wrote:

I caught my first one in March did not know what it was either. Took a pic and ask people that grew up here around lake Guntersville I’ll take another pic next one the first one caught it on a jig crappie fishing. Found a pic

Nope ! Not familiar with that one !
I have never even seen one before
this photo !

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

I know in Louisiana they call em gaspergou or just gou for short. To my knowledge we don't have em in California, but if we did we would call them perch. Lotta places here, if it ain't a bass it's a perch.

NoCal Steve Loc: Dunnigan, CA

Spiritof27 wrote:

I know in Louisiana they call em gaspergou or just gou for short. To my knowledge we don't have em in California, but if we did we would call them perch. Lotta places here, if it ain't a bass it's a perch.

What? Pretty sure I recall one of your soap box rants that there are no Perch in Cali???

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

NoCal Steve wrote:

What? Pretty sure I recall one of your soap box rants that there are no Perch in Cali???

Well that's why it's so strange that all those folks call bluegills and carp and crappie and such perch. Folks in Texas do the same thing - bluegills especially, just ask RJS. There's maybe one place in California where you can catch an actual yellow perch. Prove me wrong.

Here, I'll ask all the folks on here: what kind of fish is this?

Spiritof27 Loc: Lincoln, CA

Spiritof27 wrote:

Well that's why it's so strange that all those folks call bluegills and carp and crappie and such perch. Folks in Texas do the same thing - bluegills especially, just ask RJS. There's maybe one place in California where you can catch an actual yellow perch. Prove me wrong.

Here, I'll ask all the folks on here: what kind of fish is this?

And where can I go in California to catch one of these?

Whitereb Loc: Lake Guntersville Alabama

Bluegill bream

And Marvin Loc: Lawrence, Ks

Ben Bragg wrote:

I was talking to a guy last. Ishtar and have heard this before
Drum are edible. I e em down immediately.
Chose fish under 6 pounds
Fillet and remove all red meat. This will leave you with a back strap
Cut into cubes and boil in a strong brine.
My first source said a pound of salt second source said far less salt and vinegar in water
This is supposed to resemble lobster in taste and texture.
Never tried it myself but always have been curious

Friend keeps almost any fish. He fried drum with some crappie, drum had less of a fish taste then catfish. What I did not like the filets were thick and rubbery