The Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is also known as redfish, channel bass, puppy drum, spottail bass, or simply red. They are found in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and are related to the Black Drum and do interbreed.
(My friend Katie)
(Her friend Leslie – next)
They are dark red on the back, fading into white on the belly. They have a black eyespot near the streamlined tail. Some reds will have multiple spots which most will fade as they age. It uses it downturned mouth to forage on the bottom through vacuuming or biting.
In the summer and fall reds favorite food is crabs, shrimp and mullet while in winter and spring it is menhaden, mullet, pinfish, sea robin, lizardfish, spot, Atlantic croaker, and mudminnows.
They became well known in the 1980’s by chef Paul Prudhomme, with a Cajun styled blackened redfish and seasoning (sold commercially). They have a moderate flavor, they are not oily and filets are the way to go when cleaning.
They can be found in the salt marsh creeks and rivers, oyster bars, open sounds, and backwater flats. Smaller fish tend to school more than the larger fish, and once you catch one, you are almost sure to catch more. Redfish can be caught on a variety of natural bait.
Live bait such as live shrimp (fished under a float or on a jig head), mud minnows, or small baitfish like mullet or menhaden shad are all used to catch redfish. Artificial bait – lures and plugs – are very effective baits for redfish.
These baits range from topwater to deep diving baits, from plugs to jigs. Lots of redfish lures resemble freshwater black bass lures. The Florida record for a Red Drum is 52lbs, 5oz on Cocoa Beach and the Georgia record is 47lbs, 7oz . The World record is 94 lbs, 2oz in Hatteras, North Carolina 1984red f.
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