Catching and Rigging for Large Black Drum

everal years ago I took a much needed day off. Just then my phone rings and it was my friend Brian Castille on the other end. He asked, "Do you want to join my dad and I? We're heading out to the jetties to do a little drum fishing." Since he would pick me up at the Galveston Yacht Basin, I responded with a firm "yes".

We motored towards the north Galveston Jetty, anchoring up near the boat cut. Castille had a variety of bait aboard - live crabs, live crawfish, even some dead shrimp. We threw out 4 lines and it didn't take long for the fish to cooperate. Soon afterward, we're reeling in large black drum, one after another as fast as we could bait up and cast out. In a little over four hours of fishing, we boated 62 large black drum, between 25-45 pound a piece Later that evening I received a call from Capt. Mike Williams asking, "How many fish did ya'll catch?" I replied, "62." Williams chuckled and asked, "Why only 62?" I said, "because we ran out of bait."

On most days, especially in February, it is common for those anglers fishing the jetties to land big black drum in double digit numbers.

SI'm not saying you'll catch 62 of them, that is a once in a lifetime event. The key to catching these large fish is the rigging of your line. Once you have this figured out, catching them becomes a lot easier.

So I enlisted the knowledge of Capt. Mike Williams who has fished the Galveston Jetties longer than any person I know. The location that Castille's and I fished that day is a spot on the north Galveston Jetty, named Mike Williams rock. It's about 60 yards east of the boat cut on the channel side of the jetty.

The best bait for drum is a live blue crab. Fresh frozen will work, but live is best. Williams removes the claws and saves them for eating. He then pulls the top shell off and either halves or quarters the crab, depending upon it's size.

According to Williams, black drum are not line shy, so he makes leaders that are durable and long lasting. First, Williams uses two pieces of 200 pound test Ande monofilament line. One 30 inches in length - the other 15 inches. After he cuts the line to length, he then crimps a large, black, barrel swivel to one end, slides on a 2-6 ounce egg weight onto the 30 inch leader, and crimps another large barrel swivel to the other end. Then crimps the 15 inch leader onto the barrel swivel of the 30 inch leader, and finally a 16/0 circle hook to the bare end. He bends the barb down on the hook, which allows for a easy release.

Williams never gaffs at large black drum or bull reds. Williams said, "You can grab this guide tough leader at the weight and pull the fish into the boat."

Williams suggests having a variety of leaders pre-made with various weights. The stronger the tidal flow, the heavier the weight is needed. The bait needs to be on the bottom. As far as hooking the crab, you can run the hook directly through the bottom shell or through the crab's leg sockets.

Best times to catch these fish is now through the full moon in April. I hope this helps anyone reading and wanting to go catch these big fish.