How to Catch a Black Drum Fishing Florida (The Complete Guide)
The best way to catch a black drum is with live or fresh dead shrimp with a sinker on your main line. A knocker rig that allows the sinker to move freely up the line will keep it away from your bait. You can also use crabs, clams and scented lures like a Berkeley Gulp Shrimp.
Black drum are a blast to catch because they are such strong fighters. This is especially true in really shallow water when you can sight fish them as they tail searching for shrimp, crabs, clams and oysters.
The black drum is the largest member of the drum family and can get over 100 pounds. Also in the drum family are the red drum (redfish), croakers, and the spotted sea trout (not a real trout).
BUT you will have to learn how to catch a black drum before you get to enjoy the fight that they will give you once they know that they are hooked.
All of the drum family have one thing in common. They are great to eat. At least the smaller ones are great to eat. We tried to eat one about the size of the fish in the photo and it was so full of worms that we couldn't salvage very much meat at all. A good keeper sized black drum are under 25 inches, in my opinion.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the flats and oyster bars around Florida for over 40 years. In this article, I will tell you everything that I know about targeting black drums in the various environments that they live in.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and learn how to catch more black drum in Florida.
The best way to catch a black drum is with live or fresh dead shrimp with a sinker on your main line. A knocker rig that allows the sinker to move freely up the line will keep it away from your bait. You can also use crabs, clams and scented lures like a Berkeley Gulp Shrimp.
Black drum are a blast to catch because they are such strong fighters. This is especially true in really shallow water when you can sight fish them as they tail searching for shrimp, crabs, clams and oysters.
The black drum is the largest member of the drum family and can get over 100 pounds. Also in the drum family are the red drum (redfish), croakers, and the spotted sea trout (not a real trout).
BUT you will have to learn how to catch a black drum before you get to enjoy the fight that they will give you once they know that they are hooked.
All of the drum family have one thing in common. They are great to eat. At least the smaller ones are great to eat. We tried to eat one about the size of the fish in the photo and it was so full of worms that we couldn't salvage very much meat at all. A good keeper sized black drum are under 25 inches, in my opinion.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the flats and oyster bars around Florida for over 40 years. In this article, I will tell you everything that I know about targeting black drums in the various environments that they live in.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and learn how to catch more black drum in Florida.
How to catch a black drum--Oyster Bars and Mud Flats
One of my favorite ways to target black drum is sight fishing for them on the mud flats and oyster bars at low tide. The bigger black drums will often come into very shallow water searching for shrimp, crabs, oysters, clams and whatever else they want to eat.
The bigger ones will turn vertically in the water so that their tails will stick out of the water. This tells you that they think that they found something on the bottom and are trying to get at it. If you can quietly get close enough to make a cast to them when they are tailing they usually don't get spooked.
My favorite bait for this is a live or fresh dead shrimp with a small split shot about 6 inches above the hook. The black drum has 4 nostrils which tells you that it hunts using its olfactory system. They will most likely smell the shrimp if you get it within 3 or 4 feet of them.
I wrote another article on this website that is all about inshore fishing. I cover the best baits, lures, tackle and much more. You can read that article by clicking right here.
I have caught 30 and 40 pound black drums in less than 3 feet of water. The fight that a big black drum is usually a long and constant tug after the first run. If you don't have heavy tackle you might get dragged around for 45 minutes or so.
Another great bait on the oyster bars and mud flats is a fiddler crab or a blue crab or a mud crab if you can't find the other two. If you get the crab close enough the drum will find it.
A black drum will also hit a scented shrimp imitation with a jig head. Berkely Gulps work great. My favorites are white and natural colors with a red 1/8 ounce jig head. Just get it close and they will smell it. If you can't see the drum just cast the jig up current and work it back to you bouncing on the bottom.
They will also hit gold spoons and spinner baits with gold blades.
Watch this video and learn how to catch more black drum around oyster bars.
How to catch a black drum--Docks
Another great place to catch black drum are docks. Docks have a lot of the things that black drum really like to eat. There are oysters, clams and mussels on the pilings or around them that they can crush up and eat. There are also crabs and shrimp for them to eat. Most of the time there are small fish around too.
When I fish the docks for black drum I usually have one of two baits with me. Live or frozen shrimp or a scented shrimp jig. Those are my go to baits for drum around the docks. Real shrimp works the best but the scented jigs are pretty good too.
I wrote another article on this website that covers dock fishing in great detail. You can read that article by clicking right here.
The shrimp rigged with a small split shot is how I usually target the drum. Just cast it to where you think the fish are and wait for the hit. The black drum are sometimes in huge schools and will stay in one spot for a week or so if there is a lot of food for them and not a lot of predators.
If you are fishing with a scented shrimp jig just bounce it slowly on the bottom as you reel it in. It is similar to the way that you would fish for a flounder. The slower the better. The black drum are often in schools which means that you can catch dozens of them when the bite is on.
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How to catch a black drum--Grass Flats
The grass flats are another great place to find black drum. They like to root around in the grass for crabs, shrimp and small fish with their cousins the red drum (redfish). Once again the bait of choice is a live or fresh dead shrimp. If they smell it they will come straight to it.
Black drum will tail just like their cousin the red drum when they are foraging for food on the shallow grass flats. This is great because they will show you where you need to fish. Just look for the big and broad tails sticking out of the water as they suspend vertically in the water.
I wrote another article on this website that covers how to sight fish inshore for fish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Grass flats are a great place to find black drums early in the day. They usually move to deeper cuts and channels as the sun begins to heat up the grass flats. You can still catch them but you will have to switch to a bait that you can fish in deep water near the bottom.
A great choice is something REALLY STINKY. Black drum are definitely a scent and taste oriented fish. They have an amazingly evolved olfactory system and can find a shrimp or crab from quite a distance.
They also have barbels under their chins just like a catfish. They use these to taste the water to find food. If they are in the vicinity and you have a stinky bait the drum will find it.
The best rig in shallow water (5 feet or less) is a live shrimp under a popping cork or a shrimp with a split shot above it. The leader should be long enough to keep the shrimp about a foot above the top of the grass is you are using a cork. The good news is that this technique will also catch redfish, flounder and any spotted sea trout in the area.
The video below shows you how to catch a black drum with lures.
The grass flats are another great place to find black drum. They like to root around in the grass for crabs, shrimp and small fish with their cousins the red drum (redfish). Once again the bait of choice is a live or fresh dead shrimp. If they smell it they will come straight to it.
Black drum will tail just like their cousin the red drum when they are foraging for food on the shallow grass flats. This is great because they will show you where you need to fish. Just look for the big and broad tails sticking out of the water as they suspend vertically in the water.
I wrote another article on this website that covers how to sight fish inshore for fish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Grass flats are a great place to find black drums early in the day. They usually move to deeper cuts and channels as the sun begins to heat up the grass flats. You can still catch them but you will have to switch to a bait that you can fish in deep water near the bottom.
A great choice is something REALLY STINKY. Black drum are definitely a scent and taste oriented fish. They have an amazingly evolved olfactory system and can find a shrimp or crab from quite a distance.
They also have barbels under their chins just like a catfish. They use these to taste the water to find food. If they are in the vicinity and you have a stinky bait the drum will find it.
The best rig in shallow water (5 feet or less) is a live shrimp under a popping cork or a shrimp with a split shot above it. The leader should be long enough to keep the shrimp about a foot above the top of the grass is you are using a cork. The good news is that this technique will also catch redfish, flounder and any spotted sea trout in the area.
The video below shows you how to catch a black drum with lures.
How to catch a black drum--Inlets
The inlets are another great place to find black drum. They will often school around the mouths of the inlets around Florida. You can target them with the same baits as usual but the inlets are deeper and have more current than the other places that we have talked about.
You will need heavier weights to get down to the bottom of the inlet. This also makes it harder to feel the smaller ones bite. The good news is that they are usually hugging the sides of the inlets by the boulders. This makes it easier to control you presentation.
The key to catching black drum in the inlets around Florida is having the right bait and the right tackle. You will want something stinky that you can sink to the bottom of the inlet. A half of a blue crab is a great choice for inlet fishing for black drum.
Cut a blue crab in half and sink it to the bottom on a dropper loop rig. You will need to plant it to the bottom so you will want enough lead to keep your bait in the strike zone and stationary on the bottom of the inlet.
A dropper loop is a great rig because the bait is above the your sinker lead. This means that you can feel the bite when the black drum takes your bait. This stops a lot of unnecessary hook swallowing by the fish. Those big black drums are wormy and you don't want to keep them anyways.
I like to use a circle hook when I do this kind of fishing. The circle hook on the dropper loop makes it much less likely that the drum will swallow the hook. The hook will most likely be right in the corner of the fishes' mouth.
Best gear for black drum fishing:
Rods and Reels-- You will need to decide how heavy of an outfit that you will need to catch black drum. If you are fishing the flats for 5 pounders then you can get away with a 2500 series reel with a medium action rod that is 7 to 8 feet long. You will only need an 8 to 10 pound braided line and you are good to go.
If you are fishing for fish in the 30 pound class then you will want at least a 4000 series real with a medium/heavy action rod. You will want to be spooled with 50 pound braided line.
If you are fishing for the big boys in the inlets when they spawn, then you may want a 5500 or 6500 series reel filled with 100 pound braided line. You will want a medium heavy 7 to 8 foot rod too.
Sunglasses--If you are going to be fishing for black drum all day you will definitely need to protect your eyes and skin from the sun's harmful rays. Polarized sunglasses are a must for black drum fishing. A high end pair of sunglasses will run about $250 and a lower end pair will run you about $25 with glass lenses. You can find them with plastic lenses for about $5 at Walmart.
Whatever price range you decide to go with you must wear polarized sunglasses or you can not sight fish for black drum on the flats or around the docks. The polarized lenses eliminate the glare on the surface of the water so that you can see under the surface.
The best color lenses for inshore and dirtier water scenarios are amber, rose and copper. If you are fishing super clean and clear water or you are fishing offshore a blue or a gray lens is best.
Performance apparel--You will also want to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. These shirts have built in sunscreen and are moisture wicking which means they evaporate your perspiration more efficiently keeping you cool on those hot days on the water.
How well do Black Drum smell?
Many fishermen forget about just how a fish finds its food. Think about it for a second. They can see the food. They can feel/hear the food. OR they can smell/taste the food.
Just imagine the world that a black drum lives in. Sure, sometimes the water is crystal clear and the drum can see what it is doing but most of the time the waters are not clear.
This means that the black drum will have to use their other senses most of the time. Your job is to make it easy for them to find your lures or baits. The best way is to use something stinky. Most fish can smell better than a blood hound so use that knowledge and catch more fish.
Often times fishermen forget about the last group of senses when it comes to catching fish with lures. The best baits for black drums are smelly ones. They have 4 nostrils and barbels on their chins so they have an extremely evolved sense of smell.
Sure you can catch them with spinner baits and gold spoons and those don't have any smell. They can see, feel and hear these baits as the move through the water. BUT they can't smell them.
I wrote another article on this website all about scents that attract and repel fish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
There is a product called Pro Cure that is a super sticky and smelly substance that you can put onto your lures to add the olfactory senses of the fish into the fish catching equation. Try this stuff out and you will catch more black drum with lures. I guarantee it.
*I am not sponsored by Pro Cure. I am only telling you about it because it works.
Watch the video below and catch more fish using smell
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Bonus Video: Catch and Release Ethics and Techniques