Black Drum

The redfish's larger, slower, and more deliberate cousin. Black drum cruise the same Texas bays and eat the same crabs and shrimp, but they do it with their chins down, rooting along the bottom like livestock. The small ones, under ten pounds, are fine fish on a fly. The big ones are a story you tell, not a fish you land quickly.

Drum tail in shallow water just like reds, but they are harder to feed. The fly has to land close and stay close — a small black or purple crab pattern, a Merkin, or a slow-shrimp worked at a crawl. They find food by smell and feel more than by sight, so the cast has to be precise and the retrieve patient.

Winter is their season on the middle coast. When the bays go clear and cold, look for the wakes.