freshwater drum

[gwl2oneida]

Anyone have any experience catching freshwater drum or burbot? Never knew either existed until recently.

[Lard Almighty]

Champlain is loaded with them. Never caught one but I hear they will occasionally hit soft plastics.

[lunkertaker]

Anyone have any experience catching freshwater drum or burbot? Never knew either existed until recently.

I have hooked FW drum in the past fishing for bass. Not very large specimens and not here in NJ (TN actually). Burbot looks like a FW ling, just saying from internet picks and have never heard of them. But then again, I did'nt know there were FW eels till I moved to NJ. Are they a Mid-West species or native or present in NJ? Evasive???? I don't know?

[bulletbob]

I don't think either of them exists in NJ... Here in NY state there are lots of drum, but only in certain places and at certain times.. They are considered a pest by great Lakes guys.. The look like a 50/50 cross of a carp and a weakfish.. Actually they are probably more closely related to a weakfish than a carp.

They are pretty big, and fight well.. We have them in Cayuga lake but you only see them in certain spots at certain times.. I have been here 21 years and never caught one.. they like crayfish in Cayuga and seldom hit anything else there.. In the Great Lakes they hit anything and drive guys crazy when they are fishing for more "desirable" species...

Burbot are the only member of the Cod family that inhabits fresh water and they look like a ling.. They are abundant in Oneida lake about 100 miles north of me.... They are usually caught in very cold water, especially through the ice.. Guys hate them and many kill them just for the sake of killing them.

Again, they are here, but only at certain places at certain times. bob

[bulletbob]

sorry double post

[gwl2oneida]

Thanks for info guys. Ill be fishing oneida this summer.

[catfishonthelake]

I've seen drum in the dam tailwaters below Burnsville Lake in West Virginia. I guess technically that is the Little Kanawha River, which has a healthy population of flathead catfish, which is what I was fishing for. We only caught a few channel catfish, but I did catch my first and only sauger there.

[crewchief2]

Never saw one in Jersey, but used to catch them all the time in upstate N.Y. Oneida lake, while fishing for smallies, they hit crankbaits all the time up there. Usually in the 3-5 lb range.

[crewchief2]

Thanks for info guys. Ill be fishing oneida this summer.

Go to the North Shore on 49, right out from the boat house marina is a big shoal, they are all over around that shoal. But if your going to Oneida, chase walleyes and smallies. My brother has lived up there for over 20 years,k and most of the locals think smallies are garbage, they concentrate on Walleyes

[gwl2oneida]

Thanks for info crewchief. Ill be up there all summer, i bought property in amboy last summer. Imagine a lake were smallies are a nuisance? Damn i cant wait.

[bulletbob]

Thanks for info crewchief. Ill be up there all summer, i bought property in amboy last summer. Imagine a lake were smallies are a nuisance? Damn i cant wait.

There will most likely be a steep learning curve,
Its not like fishing a NJ lake... That lake is HUGE- 22 miles long, 5 wide.. Water is rough as hell much of the time. You need a strong good size boat to fish it right.
Those walleyes don't come that easy... Many of the more successful guys troll there, with a lot of expensive equipment, and the Walleyes in that lake are pretty small as they get a ton of pressure. It gets thousands of guys , all fishing for Walleye.
Keepers are often tough to come by, unless you really know what you are doing.
There are a lot of fish in the lake, and plenty of bass, but its best to fish with a local that knows where they are and how to catch them.. The fish are not everywhere, but once you find them, you will catch your share..
So, yes, the fishing IS good, if you know when , where and how.. bob

[huntcountypussbuck]

I caught a freshwater drum once in Lake Ontario by the Power plant by where the salmon river comes in. Caught trolling with dipsey diver on a dodger fly combo. Strange looking fish and was a decent fighter.

[crewchief2]

Thanks for info crewchief. Ill be up there all summer, i bought property in amboy last summer. Imagine a lake were smallies are a nuisance? Damn i cant wait.

Two decent Oneida lake fish

[gwl2oneida]

Nice fish! Cant wait to wet my line.

[crewchief2]

Nice fish! Cant wait to wet my line.

Spinner baits in the weedbeds, and crankbaits on the rocks.