Freshwater drum good to eat?

[Michael Courtney]

On a recent charter trip to Lake Erie, we caught a couple of freshwater drum. Our captain encouraged us to throw them back since he doesn't think they taste very good. However, these fish look an awful lot like the saltwater redfish and black drum I used to catch as a child in Louisiana. Since we always liked to eat redfish and black drum, it seems to stand to reason that I might like the freshwater drum also, since it seems to be a close relative.

So what's the story on the freshwater drum? Are they good to eat, or does something about their diet or life history make them less desirable than their saltwater relatives? Please indicate when responding whether you have personally tasted one.

Michael Courtney

[brian]

http:// http://www.sg.ohio-state.edu/discus/messages/13/334.html?1128777804 Check this from the Ohio Sea grant, I have eaten them and I think they are as good as Black Drum or Red Drum (freshly caught in Nags Head. When you have perch and walleye though, you dont eat sheephead.:)

[Duffy]

Sheephead get a bad rap as a "rough" fish, but I think they're fun to catch, and they aren't bad eating. I wouldn't put them on a par with perch, walleye, or smallmouth, but really, they're not that bad.

Good article, too.

[OHBOW76]

I agree perch and walleye aare good eating, but I dont think bass largemouth or smallmouth are very tasty. In regards to freshwater drum, I dont know much about them but my father-in-law who is a fishign fiend and a huge eater, claims that they are pretty good as long as they are cooked up fresh.

[Buckmaster]

Par boil them, chill, and serve with cocktail sauce, its called poor man's lobster.

[Links r Us]

Originally posted by Buckmaster
Par boil them, chill, and serve with cocktail sauce, its called poor man's lobster.

10-4

-put what you can eat on ice as soon as they are caught rather than stringers/etc ... IMHO they don't freeze up well. You can also shred the harder boiled meat for a crab replacement for crab dishes.... same goes for White Bass as the S'Heads.........