Black drum

1. Late winter · staging
   0.70
2. Spring
   0.60
3. Summer · slow
   0.40
4. ● Fall · on the shell
   0.65
5. Spawning · drumming
   1.0059–75°F

1. 1

   oysters, mussels & estuarine clams · shellfish

   primary · mollusk · Crassostrea virginica; Rangia cuneata; Ischadium recurvum

   Diet share

   —

   No season data

   Bait equivalents

   fresh clam, fresh dead shrimp, shucked oyster, Fishbites clam

   Season

   No peak months on file

   Vulnerable when

   • High on rising / falling tide in calm-to-moderate surf
   • Moderate on high slack / low slack tide

   Oysters, mussels and clams crushed off the shell bars; the dominant food of adult drum. — Overstreet & Heard 1982; adult ~74% mollusk share from a secondary summary (unverified)

2. 2

   blue crabs · crabs

   secondary · crustacean · Callinectes sapidus

   Diet share

   —

   In season

   Bait equivalents

   cut crab, soft-shell crab piece

   Season

   Peak May–Oct

   Vulnerable when

   • Moderate on any tide in calm-to-moderate surf

   A principal item across Mississippi Sound drum and seatrout. Half a blue crab is the classic big-drum bait. — Overstreet & Heard 1982

3. 3

   shrimp

   tertiary · crustacean

   Diet share

   —

   In season

   Bait equivalents

   live shrimp, fresh dead shrimp, shrimp tip, gulp shrimp

   Season

   Peak Apr–Oct

   Vulnerable when

   • High on rising / high slack tide

   Heavier in smaller drum. Fresh dead shrimp is the everyday panhandle bait. — Overstreet & Heard 1982

4. 4

   polychaete worms (sandworms) · sandworms

   rank 4 · polychaete

   Diet share

   —

   No season data

   Bait equivalents

   bloodworm, fishbites bloodworm, shrimp

   Season

   No peak months on file

   Vulnerable when

   • Moderate on rising / high slack tide in moderate surf

   The third-ranked group in Mississippi Sound stomachs. — Overstreet & Heard 1982

Water temp

50–94°F

optimum 68°F

Salinity

5–35 PSU

Feeding

opportunistic

Typical size

14–26"

Lifespan

43 yr

mature at 5 yr

Group feeding

none documented

Bottom-rooting crusher. Chin barbels find the prey and heavy throat teeth crack oysters, clams and crabs. Feeds by smell and touch, day or night, so off-color water costs it little; a moving tide matters more than light.

Field notes

• Spawning males drum loudly; sound production peaks January–March in 64–72°F water.

  • migration phase: spawning aggregation

  — Locascio & Mann 2011

• Drumming aggregations hold in deep, moving water between barrier islands and in channels, at 59–75°F and 10–27 ppt.

  • water temp ≤ 75°F
  • water temp ≥ 59°F

  — Saucier & Baltz 1993 (Louisiana)

• In Mississippi Sound the diet ranked crustaceans, then bivalves, then polychaete worms; big adults lean heavily on shellfish.

  — Overstreet & Heard 1982

• Long-lived and late to mature (females at about 26 inches, age 5–6). Over-slot fish are the breeders.

  — Murphy & Taylor 1989

• Feeds by smell and touch, so muddy water after rain barely slows it. A moving tide across the shell is the trigger.

  • turbidity ≥ 25 NTU

  — inferred from feeding mechanism (barbels, throat crushers) — unverified

Schooling by phase

spawning aggregation

Tight schools of large fish at passes and channels, drumming

spring

Post-spawn fish spread back into the bays

summer

Singles and small groups on docks, bridges and shell; slow bite in hot water

fall winter

Fish bunch up on shell and in deeper bay holes as the water cools

Citations

1. [1]Locascio & Mann 2011 · drumming
2. [2]Saucier & Baltz 1993 · aggregation habitat
3. [3]Overstreet & Heard 1982 · diet
4. [4]Murphy & Taylor 1989 · maturity
5. [5]FishBase SpecCode 425; NJ DEP black drum fact sheet · max age 43 yr on Florida's Gulf coast (58-60 yr Atlantic)
6. [6]Murphy & Taylor 1989, Northeast Gulf Science 10(2) (NE Florida) · maturity males 50% at ~590 mm TL, age 4-5; females 50% at 650-699 mm TL, age 5-6
7. [7]Murphy & Taylor 1989; Tampa Bay study, Northeast Gulf Science 11(1) · spawning months NE Florida Jan-Apr; Tampa Bay Nov-May, peak March
8. [8]Locascio & Mann 2011, Fishery Bulletin 109(3); Saucier & Baltz 1993 · drumming temps peak drumming Jan-Mar at 18-22°C; aggregations at 15-24°C and 10-27 ppt
9. [9]Overstreet & Heard 1982, Gulf Research Reports 7(2):137-149 · diet ms sound crustaceans, pelecypods, polychaetes (ranked)
10. [10]secondary summary; primary source not retrieved · diet adults unverified — adults >500 mm ~74% mollusks