Red drum (family sciaenidae) is primarily a saltwater species, but can migrate into fresh water during cold weather where it can live but not reproduce there.

Along Alabama’s coast, red drum spawn from early October through the middle of December when large schools in the Gulf move closer to shore.

The eggs hatch within a day and are carried into estuaries and creeks by the tides. These small larval fish settle out in shallow water areas with grass or mud bottoms. These juveniles feed primarily on small crabs, shrimp and bottom organisms. When they get older, they’ll eat bigger crabs, shrimp and small fish. Red drum grow fast and reach about 11 inches or more and one pound in under a year, 17-22 inches and three and a half pounds in two years, and 22-24 inches and six to eight pounds in three years.

They start maturing sexually between three and four years at about 30 inches long. During this time they remain in the estuaries where they’re subject to human induced mortality primarily from recreational anglers.

As the fish mature they leave the estuaries and migrate into the Gulf where they join large schools of fully mature fish and stay for the rest of their lives.

You can catch some of the larger red drum at Perdido Pass in the winter by doing night fishing off the jetty or from the parking area. I like to use a surf rod with 30-pound test monofilament, a four to eight ounce sinker depending on the current and a mullet head for bait.

Don’t use a light rod or all you’ll end up with is an empty spool on your reel — these guys weigh 20 to 40 pounds. The red drum is a coarse fleshed fish, like cod, and the big ones are great in stews or fish cakes.

If you have access to a small boat you can find the smaller young red drum in places like Fish and Magnolia rivers where they’re schooled up on old oyster beds. Use a light rod with live shrimp (preferred) or a plastic grub with a lead head jig.

Check with the conservation department on size and number regulations and make sure you have the proper license.

The red drum (Sciaenops ocellata) is a popular sport fish along the Gulf of Mexico and not so long ago it was also an important commercial species as well. That was before the NMFS and the Gulf States made its commercial harvest illegal and it was declared a game fish. Prior to this in the 50s and 60s it was considered somewhat of a trash fish by the majority of recreational anglers not fit for much of anything but bait and occasionally some fun at the end of a fishing rod.

The vast majority of red drum taken by recreational anglers never have a chance to spawn, which is why there are strict number and length regulations in all the Gulf States. If the commercial harvest of the spawning adults with purse seines had been allowed to continue it would have had a negative impact on the species over time, but it was the recreational angler who was doing the most damage by taking fish that never had a chance to grow up to spawn.

Since the implementation of these regulations recreational anglers have seen a significant increase in the number of juvenile red drum.

However, the commercial fishery has never been allowed to redevelop.

Think Global – Act Local.

Dr. “Skip” Lazauski can be seen on the television show “Eco-Bites”, which airs on Mediacom’s channel 14 and Smartel’s channel 4. To reach Dr. Lazauski for questions and comments, send e-mail to IchiOrca@yahoo.com. For more information, see his Web site, drskiponline.com.