A Black Drum Bite at Goose Island

The tide was ripping through the cut at the fishing pier at Goose Island State Park. So much that I needed to put on a half ounce barrel sinker on my Carolina rig. I threaded the dead shrimp onto the hook and cast up stream but only about 60 feet, as there seemed to be a hole.
It didn't take long before I had a couple of quick ticks and then the fish picked up the rig and swam with the tide. Setting the hook I fought the fish , finally bringing it to the surface and then to the net. It was a legal black drum, a fish that is one of the best eating fish in the Gulf, and the fish I had hoped to catch!
There were already three fisherman on the pier as we pulled up and Pete was putting on his waders and going after the speckled trout. Dave, George, and I wanted to concentrate on the black drum, so we didn't need to wade, just fish from the wooden walkway. As we started out, one of the fisherman set the hook and reeled in a nice black drum. It made me walk even faster!
George was the first to catch a drum and it didn't surprise me as he is one of the best bait fisherman I have seen in action. Dave set the hook with a strong sweep of his rod and pulled in a huge sheepshead and with a little coaxing I was fishing next to George and setting the hook on my own black drum.
We were soon joined by Pete, who had only had one hit and had a nice speckled trout in his basket,(although the trout bite had stopped and didn't return). The bite was on and fish were being brought in on both sides of the pier. The fish were mostly black drum but a few sheepshead and red drum were intermixed and it was turning into another great day.
Before long we all had our limits, of five black drum each and it was time to head back to the cleaning station. It felt great to finally be on the Texas Coastal Bend with a hot bite, something I had heard about but had not yet seen,(At least a hot bite for all three species of black drum, speckled trout, and sheepshead). Clear skies.



A new,(for us anyway). and easy recipe for Black Drum.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Take a baking dish and spray it with olive oil and arrange a single layer of black drum fillets.

Cover them with sliced onions and pour a half of a bottle of blue cheese salad dressing on top.

Bake for about a half an hour until the sauce is bubbling, the onions are done, and the fish flake easily.

(Be sure to taste the dressing before hand as some blue cheese dressings may be overpowering so if its really strong use less dressing)

Clear skies