Banded Drum

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Out on the Slim Pickins Thursday and Friday we encountered tons of these fish in the bait net mixed in with Spot. My brother-in-law called em banded drum. They are a nuisance in the gill nets because they do not fair well as bait. They are caught fairly regular this time of year in the nets. I have never caught one on hook and line and I do not know of anyone who has caught one on hook and line. Have any of you ever caught them? Ate them? Any feedback.....






Holwachagot

[BTH284]

Have caught quite a bit of those in some holes and oyster rocks back in hoophole creek years ago. I always thought they were young black drum. Sometimes the stripes are more prevalent than that and run up behind the gills.

[WAHOONBOX]

I LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY HERE.......

[HOLWACHAGOT]

The fish in the pics stripes faded some...I will pull a pic from video that shows one a little better. Have you ever tried eating them? From what I have researched this morning the feed primarily on small shrimp.
Holwachagot

[BTH284]

Always threw them back. But that is exactly what we caught them on, break the head off a small count shrimp and thread it on a red mann's grub head 1/4 oz. This was in the early spring time while looking red drum. They pull like a mother!

[cartercrew]

We caught something that looks very close to this while bottom fishing in shallow water just off the coast in Sandbridge VA. Caught two of them on one rig baited with Gulp Sandworm.

Here are two pics ... we had no idea what they were so we threw them back.

Ours had a row of sharp little teeth top and bottom ... and the head shape looks a little different. Some guys thought they might be juvenile grouper of some sort.

[HOLWACHAGOT]

I hope someone else chimes in here...The fish in the pics above look like yet another species I have not seen. The Banded Drum I handled did not have teeth...at least I didn't notice any. Cool pics.
Holwachagot

[cartercrew]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I didn't think drum have teeth. Guess I have another fish that it isn't.

I'm emailing the pics to the Marine Science Center in VA Beach. A couple of their guys looked at the pics on my camera Saturday and they couldn't ID it either. They said they have a guy who is real good at ID's so he'l look at it today.

[bigg09]

those fish off sandbridge look like roundhead aka kingfish aka sea mullet. there are tons of them right now. we loaded up with them casting for bunker off cape henry and south of rudee. geoff, those look like some hot ditch mutated black drum!!!!

casey

[cartercrew]

casey - we know roundhead well. Caught quite a few of them around Thimble Shoals.

The color pattern is right but these fish are a different shape, more croaker-like. The mouth is forward facing and no chin barble. It opened more like a drum or bass.