The Bay Behemoth
Delaware Bay's black drum fishing.

By Mark Marquez II
Posted 4/25/08

Ralph started chartering for drum in 1961, when almost nobody else from the fleet sailed for them, he said.

By now, almost all fish for drum.

The Buccaneer’s drum charters begin in May and run till mid June.

The start of the fishing is more about time of year than water temperatures, Ralph said.

When the dogwoods bloom, drum go boom, the saying goes.

The fish enter the bay, from the ocean, to spawn, hardly eat while spawning, then bite in the bay throughout a month afterward, before returning to the ocean.

To understand Ralph's approach to drum fishing, the first thing to know, he said, is that he runs 10-hour trips for them.

He wants to fish two tides, though many only fish one.

Ralph, in his years of fishing
for drum, determined that
there’s no predicting the stage
of tide when they’ll bite. 

Catching them is a matter of setting up where they usually swim through, and waiting.

It’s like deer hunting, he said.

He anchors at a likely place where other anglers have been catching them lately.

Nobody knows exactly when they’ll come on a given day, but if the fish have been swimming the area lately, they’ll probably arrive sometime.

They’re habitual.

The drum are feeding, grubbing clams, crabs and other bottom bait.

You’ll hear them arriving, Ralph said, because they’ll keep booming to communicate with each other

The only time he might move from his original spot is when others let him know they're catching lots.

The Buccaneer’s drum charters begin at 1 p.m.

The boat will be anchored on the grounds, and the anglers will fish until the middle of the night.

Fishing for drum at dusk into darkness is popular, but that’s not because drum only bite during low-light hours.

The hours they feed are unpredictable, Ralph's seen.

The theory is that farmers used to target the fish when they could,
after work.

Some say that small drum swim into the bay first during the season.

Ralph disagrees.

One never knows what sizes will show up first, he said.

But in June, he's noticed that schools of smaller fish become prevalent.

When drum leave the bay, many swim offshore and live at the canyons on the Continental Shelf, Ralph said.

However, some remain in the bay all season, and anglers in the
know can catch them all summer long, at places like holes near
the Elbow.

Ralph’s anglers fish for drum with a large surf clam on a tandem-hooked rig to hold lots of bait. Two clams might be used, or a clam and a shedder crab might be. These are sorts of baits that drum are known to forage on.

The rig is a fish-finder or a sinker-slide. The hooks are Gamakatsu sizes 9 or 10 non-offset, non-circle hooks. But that’s just Ralph’s preference, and he says many types of hooks can be used, including offsets and circles.

The tandem hooks are tied on an 80-pound fluorocarbon leader. Some anglers use 100-pound leaders.

The Buccaneer’s anglers fish with 50-pound line on 4500 or 6500 Shimano Baitrunner spinning reels.

That’s heavy line, and the purpose is for the anglers not to lose fish. But private anglers can use lighter outfits, 30- or 40-pound line, for sport.

Ralph uses spinning reels because many charters enjoy spinning tackle more than conventional. But anglers
can use conventional reels like sizes
4/0 or 3/0.

Medium to heavy, 6-foot Ugly Stick rods are used on the Buccaneer.

On the Buccanneer, anglers hold the rod instead of placing it in one of the rod holders while fishing. That can be a long time to hold a rod, but the fish, though giants, bite lightly. Anglers are likely to miss bites if not holding the rod to feel them.

When a bite is felt, the angler waits a moment until the line comes tight, then sets the hook

And holds on.

Landing any large fish is a challenge. The crew on the Buccaneer teaches anglers during the fight to remain calm, let the fish run, let it take line when it wants.

Allow the drag to work, wearing down the drum.

The angler should patiently pump and reel when the fish allows. Then fight will be won without wearing down the angler.

Drum typically begin biting either near Bug Light or the nearby sloughs on the New Jersey side of the bay or at Slaughter Beach on the Delaware side. During last year Ralph’s drum fishing finished for the season around Miah Maul Lighthouse.

But the general areas where drum appear throughout the season is unpredictable, and changes year to year. It can also change during the season itself.

Striped bass are often mixed in. Big, spawning, “tiderunner” weakfish, like 14-pounders, used to be. But the tiderunners were scarce in recent years.

Some people eat drum, and some let them go. No need to explain catching them without eating.

Who dares stand before him? the Book of Job asks about the behemoth.

Delaware Bay anglers -- the ones who seek the ultimate sport and art
of fishing -- they do.