I've been Drum fishing the Dbay since the early 80's, they are great sport, make headshaking runs then when they get tired, they still won't give up. They use their broad body's sideways against the current to prevent you from pulling them in, with use of too light of tackle, they'll literally go belly up before you can get them boatside! Our longest drum fight we got in video, the tape doesn't lie it took 52 minutes to boat. The fish was in the 70 lb. range and was caught on an IGFA 20 lb. trolling rod on a TLD 5 loaded w/ 20 lb. mono. 30 lb. tackle is more aptly suited for Drum fishing and is what we usually use for them. Our biggest Drum was 91 lbs. Don't go undergunned for them w/ less than 30 lb. tackle especially if you are going to release them, there is no need to keep your 3 per man limit of these fish, 1 good one per man is more than enough. We've never kept more than 2 Drum, and have had numerous double digit trips. What kills me is I continually see folk, particularly all the charterboats on my dock, line the docks up with big Drumfish which I'll never get! These guys are out w/ different groups every fishable night so you'd thenk they'd explain the importance of conservation to their groups to ensure the future of this fishery & their business! Granted they are alot of skin and bone, but you still get alot of meat from a big Drum. The meat is just ok, cant compare to striped bass, tog, fluke, etc. it doesn't freeze well at all so there is no need to fill up your freezer w/ it. Really, it's only "good" when smoked in my opionion! All this said, it would be best for those who target Drum to only keep what can be eaten fresh in order to err on the conservative side, which is in the best interest of both the fish and fishermen!
