Only the Asians eat them here
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In the '50s, on the Tennessee River, My family would fish for drum in the fall when they run the banks. Used to take them home by the washtub. My grandmother, Mom, and my aunts would take the dressed fish from my uncles, chop'em up, season them and turn them into patties, which they put into jars of oil and turned them upside down in the pantry. With a field of peas, and canned corn, and whatever else we raised, we eat good those winters. Canned Mackeral finally got cheap enough we could quit canning drum. There still good, but I prefer my Crappie now.
Yea I like them too. Not as fine as Crappie or flathead, but still a good eating fish. Not a lot of folks target them but they are pretty fun to catch due to numbers and size!
How do you clean a freshwater drum. Filet or what?
Yes I filet them. An I put them on ice as soon as I catch them...
About the only fish I have tried that was basically inedible has been pinfish and large black drum. Pinfish taste like iodine and big black drum have a lot of connective tissue between the muscle fibers, nasty gelatinous stuff when cooked.
Jack crevalle are good, have a texture like pork. I made curry with it.
Even hardtails are edible, but you have to cut out the redmeat.
I have not tried ladyfish, but I hear they make good fish patties.
Fish patties kinda like gar balls
I eat drum regularly and most people tell me they like my fried drum filets as well as crappie. I had never eaten gar until a trip to south Louisiana where I was introduced to gar burger patties and loved them. An elderly german lady in my neighborhood used to fix a baked carp dish that I tried and liked. I have never met an Asian carp. Look at the recipe section on this web site for helpful ideas.
I eat smaller black drum, or as I like to call "little uglies". Just old bay seasoning and put them on the grill. Blackened drum is good. I stay away from the big black drum.