13 minutes ago, gunsinger said:

Who would have thunk it.  Anybody eat them?  I bet there's no slot limit.

No but everyone I've talked to that has tried them said they're good.  Expect @TnRiver46 to post some pictures of fried Drum soon.  My grandfather always told me that when he was a kid drum was a very popular eating fish.

Another interesting story that has never gotten much attention.  There is a picture you can see at the bottom of the article linked below that shows George Perry (The largemouth bass world record holder) with a Drum that is reported to weight 55 pounds.  If true and if it's a freshwater drum then he may have caught another world record fish although it has never been recognized as a record.

 

https://tpwmagazine.com/bass/worldrecordbass/

You sure that isn't a red drum?

1 hour ago, gunsinger said:

Who would have thunk it.  Anybody eat them?  I bet there's no slot limit.

They are not a bony fish. Meat is white. I have tried them. It was ok. Relatively mild. My neighbor blackens them like redfish. He loves them.

For their size ther is not a lot of meat. Mainly on the back.

13 minutes ago, J Francho said:

You sure that isn't a red drum?

If you're referring to my post.  No I'm not the least bit sure.  The picture is not very good.

The scales look kind of big to be a FW drum.  I could be wrong though.

1 hour ago, gunsinger said:

Who would have thunk it.  Anybody eat them?  I bet there's no slot limit.

 

Ate one once. A 10+ lb one at that. I was fishing near a dam with some of my buddies one evening in the spring. I'm not sure whose idea it was but we get kept the fish because my buddy snagged it in the gills with a jig. 

 

We seasoned it with salt and pepper and covered the filets with some lemon wedges and sliced onions, then wrapped it in some foil and grilled it.  It didn't taste too good but considering the size of the fish and the body of water it came from, I was not surprised. I had heard that lots of people enjoy them in the south but nobody besides the bucket brigade really eats them here. Complete tangent, but I ate bass for the first time this summer. I really enjoyed it. 

1 hour ago, gunsinger said:

Who would have thunk it.  Anybody eat them?  I bet there's no slot limit.

@Tennessee Boy, I’ve eaten four of them. Not good yet not bad 

 

I only recommend it if you’re stomach is really growling 

My uncle swears they're one of the best fish to eat, but he also just recently got indoor plumbing so I'd take his advice with a grain of salt. 

 

There's a decent number of people that keep them around here, but not nearly enough to keep up with the population. They make great catfish bait, but obviously that's not putting any kind of dent in the population either. The do eat zebra mussels though, so they do some good in our lakes that have those. 

18 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Another interesting story that has never gotten much attention.  There is a picture you can see at the bottom of the article linked below that shows George Perry (The largemouth bass world record holder) with a Drum that is reported to weight 55 pounds.  If true and if it's a freshwater drum then he may have caught another world record fish although it has never been recognized as a record.

 

https://tpwmagazine.com/bass/worldrecordbass/

That drum may have been a saltwater black drum. I dont think they have freshwater drum in South Georgia. When they get that big they look very much the same. 

Just now, N Florida Mike said:

That drum may have been a saltwater black drum. I dont think they have freshwater drum in South Georgia. When they get that big they look very much the same. 

Of course , he could have caught it further north.