East Bay Black Drum
Posted: July 17th, 2011, 9:45 pm
The excitement and fun of saltwater fishing is that you never quite know what you will encounter. With cabin fever after a weekend of rain squalls, I put my kayak onto East Bay(Apalachicola Bay, north of causeway from Eastpoint to Apalacicola) Early outgoing tide, air heavy with moisture, perfectly calm. Many huge surface schools of baitfish , drifting out with the tide. Investigating predator splashes among the baitfish, I noticed the surrounding water was a copper-red. Languidly feeding on plentiful baitfish was a school of at least 200 (conservative estimate) black drum, ALL 3 - 4+ feet. Caught 4, on a variety of artificials......each one a lengthy tug-of-war, on 10lb test.These were huge fish, each flopping 1/2 a body length out of my landing net. I'm only catch-and-release, so all survived. Had to repair several lures today, that lost hooks to these drum. Foolishly, I threw a dupree gold spoon fly, and quickly lost my whole leader. I had the entire bay to myself......a memorable fishing experience. Tight lines!
