Black Drum On the North Jetty, 2014

Our three friends, Jim, Bruce, and Roy had decided to hire a guide and try to catch a big black drum. It’s the right time after all, as the black drum move into the bays for spawning, and so their guide baited their poles with blue crab. Suffice it to say they had the time of their lives catching four of the giants, (by law they must be released).

It sounded like so much fun that I put their guide on my wish list for next year as our time here is drawing short. Instead, Roy and I headed to the sailboat channel for a day of red fishing and another day on the North Jetty across from Port Aransas.

Now both places are shore fishing, which is what we do a lot of, and at the Sailboat Channel Roy caught a nice twenty four inch red on his third cast. We were both were excited but the day wore on and the only other bite we had turned out to be a large stingray.

So having lots of live shrimp left we headed out early the next morning to catch the Jetty Boat to the North Jetty. Its only twelve bucks for the round trip and because of the cost most people will instead fish the free South Jetty of Aransas Pass.

So we didn’t have to worry about crowding and after a short walk we baited our poles and started to catch sheep’s head, lots of sheep’s head. Unfortunately they were too small to keep, (we did catch one legal fish). I cast a pole out into the Gulf side but nothing was doing there so I moved out a bit and recast into the pass with a live shrimp tipped with some Fishbite, which is a man made scented bait that we use for pompano.

My pole bent over but the circle hook slipped free and the fish was never on. Putting on another shrimp, the pole tip wiggled a bit, much like the bite of a stingray and as I started to reel in the fish started to slowly swim away. I was onto a really big fish!

I really thought I had a large ray on, except the fish made some slow but powerful runs. Regardless of what it was it always fun to catch a big fish. I wondered how we could land it as our net is small and landing a big fish is challenging on the extremely slippery and dangerous rocks of the jetty.

The fight went on and on and it took quite a while before I started to gain back some line. Just when I thought I was getting the upper hand the fish would make another run and then the slow arduous task would be repeated. I had thirty pound test braided line on and a new thirty pound mono leader so if I could just keep it out of the barnacle encrusted rocks I actually might land it.

Finally the fish broke the surface and it was a trophy black drum! Leading it to a break in the Jetties rocks Roy climbed down and after three tries manages to net the fish head first. Of course it didn’t fit in but he still managed to get the job done. Well done Roy!

After pictures and measurements, it was forty inches in length, I released the fish only to have it wash back into a hole in the rocks and I had to climb down, using both hands to drag the fish out and release it back into the channel.

Tired and soaking wet I rested a bit before casting out again and again the pole jerked twice and I was fast onto another big black drum. I fought the fish for quite a while, deciding that the best thing to do was to horse the fish and attempt to break it off. Sure, it would have been fun to see it but the task of netting and releasing the fish would only have made us repeat the dangerous and arduous task of climbing down the rocks, (the swells had grown in height).

As it neared the Jetty the fish made one last run I put pressure on the spool, and the leader broke and that was ok. After all I had had a day in which I had hooked and fought two giant fish, and that made it a day to remember. Now I need to buy a larger net! Clear skies