Here is my son Mike with a 46", 58 lb. drum we weighed at Jims Bait and tackle Cape May.
He caught it while we were drifting for flounder in the Cape May rips on my boat the Dorothy Ann on July 4, 2010.
It was a slow day on the ocean and we reluctantly headed our way back into the rips to finish out the afternoon. We had tried some reef fishing and and some wrecking just prior to this with little luck.
When this fish hit a deadstick we thought he had snag but after it started stripping line, I thought a big smooth doggie or cow ray.
My wife continued fishing and I pulled my line out of the way and let Mike fight.
15 minutes later a huge golden flash was below the boat and I did the gaffing duties. It was Mike's first drum.
I felt bad afterwards because I never stopped the boat or backed down for him, convinced he had a shark or ray.
The drum was caught on a 15/30 Chaos rod and my old classic Penn Squidder spooled with 30 braid. It was a little heavy for fluke but it turned out well for what had happened.
I made the rig, a 6" Tsunami squid, 6/0 Gami Octupus hook with 40 lb. Momoi Diamond mono leader.
Mike hung squid and minnow on the Tsunami.
Obviously not a drum rig.
So much for anchoring in the bay and using clams in the spring !
Catching drum on their way out of the bay isn't totally unheard of this time of year but it is still a real surprise when you are targeting fluke.
That night we made drum parmigiana and last night we direct grilled some slabs with olive oil, JO Seasoning and some steak seasoning. Best "veal" you will ever have.
Scott
He caught it while we were drifting for flounder in the Cape May rips on my boat the Dorothy Ann on July 4, 2010.
It was a slow day on the ocean and we reluctantly headed our way back into the rips to finish out the afternoon. We had tried some reef fishing and and some wrecking just prior to this with little luck.
When this fish hit a deadstick we thought he had snag but after it started stripping line, I thought a big smooth doggie or cow ray.
My wife continued fishing and I pulled my line out of the way and let Mike fight.
15 minutes later a huge golden flash was below the boat and I did the gaffing duties. It was Mike's first drum.
I felt bad afterwards because I never stopped the boat or backed down for him, convinced he had a shark or ray.
The drum was caught on a 15/30 Chaos rod and my old classic Penn Squidder spooled with 30 braid. It was a little heavy for fluke but it turned out well for what had happened.
I made the rig, a 6" Tsunami squid, 6/0 Gami Octupus hook with 40 lb. Momoi Diamond mono leader.
Mike hung squid and minnow on the Tsunami.
Obviously not a drum rig.
So much for anchoring in the bay and using clams in the spring !
Catching drum on their way out of the bay isn't totally unheard of this time of year but it is still a real surprise when you are targeting fluke.
That night we made drum parmigiana and last night we direct grilled some slabs with olive oil, JO Seasoning and some steak seasoning. Best "veal" you will ever have.
Scott
