The signature fish of the flats. A red drum is a heavy-shouldered, copper- to bronze-coloured fish
with a blunt nose and, almost always, a single conspicuous black spot on the upper base of the
tail; some fish carry several spots, and colour ranges from nearly silver to a dark coppery brown.
TPWD's growth figures are worth knowing because they explain the legal slot: about 11 inches and a
pound at the end of the first year, 17 to 22 inches and three and a half pounds at two years, and
22 to 24 inches and six to eight pounds at three. The oldest known individual was 37 years old, and
the Texas record is 59.5 pounds.
Young red drum stay in the bays and near the passes for their first three years and are remarkably
sedentary — TPWD's tagging work found they generally move less than three miles from where they
were tagged — before moving to the Gulf as permanent residents. Spawning happens from mid-August to
mid-October in Gulf water near the mouths of passes and along the shoreline; males produce a
drumming sound to attract females, the eggs incubate for about a day, and the larvae drift in
through the passes on the tide. Adults eat crustaceans, small fish and, TPWD notes drily, sometimes
their relatives the Atlantic croaker. On the Lower Laguna Madre flats, red drum feed in water one
to four feet deep along the edges of grass, which is why sight-casting works here at all.
Source-backed field notes
- TPWD lists the primary sport species of the Laguna Madre as spotted seatrout, red drum and black drum, with snook, gray snapper, Florida pompano and barracuda as secondary species specific to the lower bay. (TPWD Short Report: Laguna Madre)
- TPWD lists red drum, spotted seatrout, flounder, common snook, fat snook, jack crevalle, gray snapper and ladyfish as the fish of the South Bay paddling trail. (South Bay Paddling Trail (TPWD))
- TPWD gives red drum growth as roughly 11 inches and 1 pound at age one, 17 to 22 inches and about 3.5 pounds at age two, and 22 to 24 inches and 6 to 8 pounds at age three. (TPWD Species Profile: Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus))
- TPWD's red drum length-at-age table reads 12 inches at age 1, 19 at 2, 24 at 3, 27 at 4, 30 at 5, 32 at 6, 34 at 7, 35 at 8, 36 at 9 and 37 inches at age 10. (TPWD Coastal Fisheries brochure: Red Drum in Texas (PWD BR V3400-045, 8/10))
Observe responsibly
Wildlife, tides and access conditions change. Keep a respectful distance, do not feed wildlife, stay out of dunes and marked nesting areas, and use current official rules before fishing or handling any catch.