Other names—channel bass, redfish, rat red (schooling juveniles less than 2 pounds), bull red (more than 10 pounds), puppy drum (under 18 inches), drum, spottail bass, red bass, red horse, school drum; French: tambour rouge; Spanish: corvinón ocelado, pez rojo, corvina roja, pescado colorado.
Commonly known as a channel bass and redfish, the red drum is second only to black drum (see: drum, black) in size among members of the drum family, Sciaenidae, but probably first in the hearts of anglers. The common term “drum” refers to the loud and distinctive “drumming” noise that occurs when the fish raps a muscle against the swim bladder. The noise is voluntary and is assumed to be associated with locating and attracting mates, and it can sometimes be heard from a good distance, sometimes even by people above the water.
Red drum have been in great demand in recent decades. They were intensely harvested by commercial fishermen until fishing restrictions or outright bans were enacted, and the great popularity of blackened redfish as a restaurant menu and fish market item was a significant factor in the collapse of redfish populations, especially due to netting in the Gulf of Mexico. A ban on netting, however, resulted in a dramatic comeback of gulf populations and caused exceptional growth in light-tackle inshore fishing. Today the red drum is one of the most popular coastal species in the U.S.
The management of redfish is complicated by the biology of the fish. The younger fish are found in state waters and thus are subject to state regulations, whereas the larger fish and schools are found either in offshore state waters (from shore to 3 miles out) or federal waters (from 3 to 200 miles offshore). Most coastal states have length and bag limits for red drum.
As mentioned, red drum are excellent food fish—one of the most desirable in the Gulf of Mexico. It is still commonly used in the popular dish known as blackened redfish. Larger specimens can be coarse and stringy, but smaller fish are quite good. The flesh is white, heavy, and moist, with a fine texture and mild flavor.
The red drum is also a popular surf fish, often caught under classic surf conditions. Although it isn’t a flashy fighter, it is stubborn and determined, persistent on heading for the bottom. Large red drum, which are primarily found in the mid-Atlantic states, are powerful, premier coastal sportfish.
Identification
An unusual redfish, with four spots, from Aransas
Bay,
Texas.
The red drum is similar in appearance to the black drum, although its maximum size is smaller and it is more streamlined. The body is elongate with a subterminal mouth and blunt nose. On adults the tail is squared, and on juveniles it is rounded. There are no chin barbels, which also distinguishes it from the black drum. Its coloring is coppery red to bronze on the back, and silver and white on the sides and belly. One black dot (also called an eyespot), or many, are found at the base of the tail.
Size/Age
The average adult red drum is 28 inches long and weighs roughly 15 pounds. Although red drum can attain enormous sizes, they seldom do so. A 30-pounder is generally rare south of the Carolinas or in the Gulf of Mexico, although fish weighing up to 60 pounds are caught in offshore locations. Thirty- to 50-pound fish are most prominent in the mid-Atlantic, principally in North Carolina and Virginia; these sizes are considered trophies.
Red drum can live 50 or more years. They are reported to live to at least 40 years in the Gulf of Mexico, and the all-tackle record, a North Carolina fish of 94 pounds, 2 ounces, was reportedly 53 years old.
Distribution
Red drum are found in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Maine to the Florida Keys, although they are rare north of Maryland, and all along the Gulf coast to northern Mexico.
Habitat
An estuarine-dependent fish that becomes oceanic later in life, the red drum is found in brackish water and saltwater on sand, mud, and grass bottoms of inlets, shallow bays, tidal passes, bayous, and estuaries. The red drum also tolerates freshwater, in which some have been known to dwell permanently. Larger red drum prefer deeper waters of lower estuaries and tidal passes, whereas smaller drum remain in shallow waters near piers and jetties and on grassy flats.
Red drum can survive wide ranges of salinity and temperature. Smaller drum prefer lower salin-ity levels than do larger ones. Optimum salinity levels range from 5 to 30 parts per thousand, optimum temperatures from 40° to 90°F.
More big reds and fewer small ones exist in a fairly short stretch of the mid-Atlantic because of the rich feeding opportunities. This is said to keep the fish from migrating southward each fall, as they prefer to move offshore to warmer continental shelf waters until spring.
Life history/Behavior
Males are mature by four years of age at 30 inches and 15 pounds, females by five years at 35 inches and 18 pounds. The spawning season is during the fall, although it may begin as early as August and end as late as November. Spawning takes place at dusk in the coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, near passes, inlets, and bays, and is often tied to new- or full-moon phases. Right before spawning, males change color and become dark red or bright bluish gray above the lateral line. Both males and females, hours before mating, chase and **** each other, drumming loudly. Females may release up to 41/2 million eggs, although very few survive to adulthood. Currents and winds carry the larvae into estuarine nursery areas.
Adult red drum form large schools in coastal waters, an activity presumably associated with spawning, although it occurs throughout the year. Anglers often see them at the surface or moving under schools of blue runner and little tunny. Sight casting to schools is a favored activity.
Drum are known generally to remain in the waters where they were hatched, although some populations migrate seasonally, and large reds may move offshore as previously noted.
Food and feeding habits
As a bottom fish, this species uses its senses of sight and touch, and its downturned mouth, to locate forage on the bottom through vacuuming or biting the bottom. Juveniles consume copepods, amphipods, and tiny shrimp. In summer and fall, adults feed on crabs, shrimp, and sand dollars. Fish such as menhaden, mullet, pinfish, sea robin, lizardfish, spot, Atlantic croaker, and flounder are the primary foods consumed during winter and spring. In shallow water, red drum are often seen browsing head-down with their tails slightly out of the water, a behavior called “tailing.”
