Old drum fishing in Eastern North Carolina

People travel from all around the world to Eastern North Carolina to go on offshore fishing charters. If you take a stroll down the waterfront of Morehead City you will see that the dock is lined with huge boats with outriggers and tuna towers.
Even as a layperson unfamiliar with the abundance of our fisheries it is easy to see that fishing is a major past time in this area from the sheer numbers of these huge boats lining the docks.
One type of regional fishing that is often overlooked is fishing for Old drum.

Red drum are found along the Atlantic coast of the United States from as far north as Delaware all the way south to Florida. They are also found in parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

A distinctive feature of the Red Drum is the spot on their tails which are a unique signature amongst individuals. Scientists believe that the spot near the tail may divert predation away from the vital organs in the head area since most predator strikes occur near the eyes. These spots may confuse predators by resembling a large eye.

Red drum can live to be quite old (up to 50 years) and grow to as large as 100 lbs (45 kg). Interestingly the aging of individual fish is determined similarly as the aging of trees; by counting the rings. to determine the age of a fish, the rings in the bones and/or scales is counted.

The fish derive their name Drum from their distinctive ability to make a drum-like sound using their muscles to contract next to their air filled swim bladder. They do this when you catch them and pull them up out of the water. The males also drum during courtship to set the mood.

In the last 20 years biologists began understanding the breeding behavior of Red Drum more thoroughly and started to place regulations for keeper fish. As a result the populations have rebounded and the species population is considered to be at a healthy number. That being said the slot size for keeper drum is 18-27 inches.

However, the sport fishing community is drawn to the size and fight of the larger fish which must be caught and release. A North Carolina Biologist developed a type of hook that will land the adults with out injuring their mouths. It is called a circle hook and it is required when drum fishing. If you do not use the more humane circle hook, you will receive a fine.

My friends and I decided to go on a fishing trip recently and Sara was able to land a huge drum. Her first one, in fact. I have caught a lot of old drum in my time living in Eastern NC and it is always a thrill each time as the fish puts up an amazing fight. First of all, once the bait is taken by the drum they take off and the the drag set on the reels sounds off a loud Whhheeeeerrrrr which gets your adrenaline pumping. Once the reel goes off everyone on board pulls in the rest of the lines so the drum on the hook won’t get tangled up. Sara fought her drum for a good 15 minutes before bringing it in the boat.

As you can see by the picture she is absolutely thrilled.

As it turns out the drum got pretty excited about it all too and let loose on Sara’s leg.

We estimate the old drum at around 30-40 lbs and likely older than all of us on the boat. Of course we lowered the giant back into the water after snapping a few photos and watched it quickly recover from the shock and disappear again into the depths.

I consider myself lucky to have friends that have grown up in the area and know how to catch an old drum. The guided charters cost several hundred dollars a pop and are a major source of sport fishing tourism for our area.