Don't avoid them, release them to the grease too. They don't taste to bad. Just cut the red meat or lateral line out as with Bass. EB
Not the rock band kind, the big bottom feeder kind (of course that could also apply to politicians) of freshwater fish.
Ky Lake seems to have a huge population of the drums that just love to torment me when I'm trolling Bandits. I'm not talking about the little 8-12 inch kind. I'm talking about the long-as-your-leg kind that will nearly yank a rod out of the holder and feels like trying to reel in a stump at 1.7 mph. I have caught no less than a half dozen this size the last week and 2 Sunday afternoon. The first broke one of my new Capps and Coleman 16 foot trolling rods 1/2 way up the tip section when I was trying to net it to get the bait back from a 10 pounder. That really torched me!
The occasional catfish or green carp is one thing since those release to the grease but those dadgum drums have my number and I don't like it! Any ideas of how to avoid them?
Don't avoid them, release them to the grease too. They don't taste to bad. Just cut the red meat or lateral line out as with Bass. EB
DO-GOODER EXTRADINAR :p
Catfish are even worse, IMO, than drum. They tend to twist the line up and cross over all the lines making huge messes (plus still can break rods like the drum).
I don't think you can avoid them. Consider this, though: most people will never catch a fish that size. Just set your drag light and enjoy the occasional "monster" you hook.
I love a good battle with a big Drum. Lots of fun on a slow day. Can boil the fillets in Crab and Shrimp boil. Dip in Cocktail sauce, coon arses call it '' Poor boy Shrimp''
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Takeum Jigs
Drum suck, but gar are the devil!!! Spider rigging somewhat shallow in the summertime is a recipe for hanging one once in a while. Had one tangle 5 poles Saturday. Got him off, but not before creating the worlds biggest birds nest. Ended up cutting the line and retying all 5. That'll tick ya off.
Drum are a pain, my thinking is if I'm catching catfish and drum, I'm usually too deep for crappie. I usually catch most of my crappie pulling cranks suspended a little piece off the bottom. Dunno bout on KY lake, since I've only single poled there.