Freshwater Drum (Aka: Sheepshead)

[rbaquial]

LOL - So, I was watching "Getting Hooked w/ Aaron & Barry" and they were fishing for Freshwater Drum...

 

It had me thinking - Has anyone been crazy enough to ever eat one?! LOL - If so, what do they taste like?

 

This really peaked my curiosity, so I thought I'd ask!

 

Great day for fishing today - Too bad I'm not heading out! Brother's BDAY....

[cram]

i tried redfish (which is salwater red drum) in South Carolina. Tasted good.

[drwxr]

they taste like rubber boot.

[Joeytier]

I wouldn't....

[azen]

Probably taste like carp.

Whatever that tastes like.

[express168]

Caught plenty of them and they give a real good fight , but have never considered eating them.

[MillerPhoto]

I wouldn't consider eating anything that has a small sucker style mouth that feeds off bottom.... lol..

[wolfmachine]

brb jigging for frshwater drums in my toilet

[MillerPhoto]

brb jigging for frshwater drums in my toilet

 

 

I don't think you wanna keep anything you catch in there!! lol

Edited May 18, 2009 by Miller Photo

[JeffBornFishin]

"It is also known for its succulent flesh, but many fishermen are put off..."

 

Uh none for me thanks.

 

Here is where the quote came from:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum

[MillerPhoto]

Well.. maybe from smaller lakes from down south in the middle of nowhere where the water is clean and fresh..

 

But from this area... with high population and all the farms runoff feeding the watersystem... i don't think so.

 

Eaither way... I think I would rather eat pine cones..

[Spiel]

I wouldn't consider eating anything that has a small sucker style mouth that feeds off bottom.... lol..

 

 

You mean like whitefish?

[Beans]

After catching a black drum off the pier at Daytone I asked an older couple who mainly fished for redfish (red drum) "only those guys over there eats them" pointing to a few black guys we had made friends with...I figure if they ate them we would give them a try...I wrapped several fillets smothered in salsa and lemon juice in tin foil and did them on the BBQ...tasted great

 

Those same guys wern't calling us "rookies" by the end of the week...we never told them we didn't fish...we just never fished for saltwater species before...but "little Joe" showed us how and we learned quick...

[shane]

I read an article in an old fishing magazine where they called sheephead 'poor man's lobster'. It said to cut the fillets up into cubes and then into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes. Eat with melted garlic butter and you wouldn't know the difference.

 

I dunno....sounds pretty fishy to me.

[Garry2Rs]

Sheepshead/Freshwater Drum have white flesh with a mild flavour.

The fillets have almost no oil in them so it is very easy to over cook the meat.

When over cooked they dry out and are like cardboard.

I can understand the boiling recipe, because it would prevent them from drying out.

[MillerPhoto]

You mean like whitefish?

 

 

Well never really thought about whitefish. Never ate it or caught it before..

 

But their mouth is not as prominent as Carp/Sucker/Drum which I was more refering to.

 

"Thinking back to those childhood memories with that overweight aunt with too much makeup and always has to pinch your cheeks and give you a kiss and all you ever see is those big lips coming for ya, and you try to run and hide.. but no matter how hard she always finds you! hahaha" Never happened to me.. but seen it maytimes with friends when i was younger..

Edited May 19, 2009 by Miller Photo

[bigugli]

It's been fed to me smoked and in chowder as a kid. Never tried cooking it myself.

[Bob]

Used to eat them when I was younger and they were just fine. Only reason I don't eat them now is because I just can't find any in this area. I always thought it was ling that was known as poor man's lobster. I'll eat them if I catch them too.

[mpt]

Poor man's lobster is correct. Ling or burbot is very similar. A lot of fish dipped in butter tastes like lobster but drum has the same texture. The problem is with the amount of flesh from the fish. You really only get backstrp meat off the fish. A 26 in. fish will give up 2 - 1 lb tails er I mean straps. BBQ in foil and garlic butter....

[Headhunter]

Hard to eat a fish that gets bounced off the motor on a "delicate" release!

HH

[fishermccann]

I love to eat Whitefish!

[Spiel]

Well never really thought about whitefish. Never ate it or caught it before..

 

But their mouth is not as prominent as Carp/Sucker/Drum which I was more refering to.

 

Whitefish is a highly sought after fish for the table by those in the know.

In fact the underslung mouth of the whitefish is more sucker like than that of the Sheephead whose mouth is designed for crushing mollusks but are frequently caught by trollers using minnow baits.

 

None the less I've never eaten one or plan to eat one.

 

[LeXXington]

I have seen a few nationalities fish for Drum and carp with the intention to eat them.

 

to everyone there own. For me I will stick too the perch and walters.

[quickme]

Sheephead is not that bad eating. The meat is dense like bass but not quite as tasty. You do get a little bit of the muddy taste but overall not bad. I would eat a sheephead before i eat a carp or a sucker.

[SylvanOwner]

guy at work was telling me today he caught a sheepy out of Hamilton yesterday and it's on the menu tonight......I'll see if I can bump into him later this week and see how it tasted........for what it's worth he's a new Canadian but wouldn't eat carp he said