Wow Sargent is warm . Is the Black drum run on in Sargent? The water Temperature at the Sargent Swing Bridge hit 70 on January 20th.. That is one of the triggers for the Winter Spring Black drum run. Usually the winter Temps of the water near Sargent Texas 50’s this time of the year. Maybe the spring time spawning of the Back drum is upon us already?
The black drum is really fun to catch this time of the year. Unlike their cousin the Red Drum Black drum spawn in the Early Spring on the Gulf Coast. Red Drum Redfish their cousin Spawn in the fall and early winter. Usually when the Water hits sixty degrees they start their migration from the Bays.
What is so different between Red Drum and Black Drum is their spawn and migration. Red Drum will migrate from the Bays to the Gulf. Black drum stay within the bay system. They will be attracted to water with more Salinity. This makes them congregate near beaches and the Passes and outlets to the Gulf. Especially within a few miles of the areas with the saltier waters. They never get far away from the Bay.
So prime areas to fish for Drum around Sargent are the mouth of Caney Creek. Close to there would include Mitchells Cut and Beach areas within a mile or two from the Entrance to Mitchells Cut. Also the Flats along the Intracoastal from The Tripod to the Second Mooring Park on Sargent Island. Fish all the Flats along the Intracoastal and of course the Canals of Downey’s Caney Creek Club in Sargent. Especially on incoming or outgoing tide.. The Intracoastal is 150 feet wide and along shoreline flat until channel in the middle. Beware of Barge Traffic. Always stay far away from Barge Traffic.
The bigger they are the more you should want to catch and release very large Drum. The legal Slot is between for drum is 14 to 30 inches. The smaller Drum are called “Puppy Drum” When they are over 20 inches “Bull Drum”. The bag-limit is 5 per day. If you catch and keep a drum larger than 55 inches it counts your as 5-bag limit. My advice is keep only smaller drum. Older larger Drum tend to have very coarse meat, not good eating and usually a lot of worms.
Releasing a big drum can be a challenge sometimes. If they were caught in deep water sometimes their air bladder fills with air. Releasing will be difficult because the fish will swim on its side. When the air bladder is perforated it allows the fish to right itself.
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