Renita"s Biggest Black Drum!

Renita made a nice cast and her bobber, after settling down, drifted toward an old weathered post. It sat there for a brief time and then, against the wind, it started to swim away.  It picked up speed and she set the hook only to realize that she had a huge fish on her line. It made several turns before making a run for the middle of the bay and she chased it around the boat, moving to the stern.

As they continued to battle, she was forced to change her position several times. The fish made a run toward the motor, but she managed to turn its head and the fight became one in which the fish dogged down, staying away from the surface. Finally, the fish tired and I was able to net the fish head first, folding its body into the small net!

John and Nina had purchased a new boat, a twenty-foot Carolina Skiff, and they invited us out for a boat ride and a few hours fishing. After a quick ride across the bay we headed down to one of John’s spots, where we were greeted with the site of feeding dolphins and two whooping cranes!

Another boat was already fishing his spot and it was two more friends from our same rv park! They hadn’t had a bite and watched as Renita landed her large black drum. Shortly after they left Nina had the next bite and she also had her hands full as another large fish threatened to pull the pole out of her hands.

However, the fish made a turn and wrapped her line around a post, where the barnacles quickly cut the line. The fish swam away but it was trailing the bobber. It finally disappeared and we continued to fish. Nina caught another fish, this one a keeper black, and a little while later Renita pulled in a second keeper fish.

My turn was next, and I caught a nice nineteen inch black, which is a good eating size fish. The bite slowed and every once and a while we saw Nina’s bobber, still hooked to the fish, appear and disappear. I went up to the front of the boat and made a cast to the other side of the structure. I knew it was a stupid cast as any large fish would pull me into the posts and sure enough one did.

John moved his boat over to the post and was able to unwind the line from the snag. It didn’t break and the fish ran away from the shoreline. The fish was also trailing Nina’s bobber. It came off and fouled my line, but we were able to clear the line and I continued to fight the fish. At last John was able to head the fish and it was just a little a quarter of an inch shorter then Renita’s.

We never did catch any more fish although we had several light bites. The wind picked up a little and as it was time to head back, we wound in our poles and headed across the choppy bay. Their boat took the waves well and it made short work of the five-mile crossing.

The tally at the end of the day was Renita with two black drums, Nina with one and a third, John with a third as he had saved the fish with his adroit handling of the snagged line, and me with one and a third fish as I managed to bring the fish to the net.

It was a special day on the water!  Renita had landed her largest black drum ever, and we really enjoyed the fishing and wildlife watching! Thank you, John and Nina, for the great day!