I do not eat fish but I do love to catch them. I also am the one who cleans them and most of the time cooks them. if you filet the drum , for lack of a better term you can filet them shallow. To stay away from the blood vien and the guts is the trick. then I skin them as I filet them having a hose flowing also helps to carry off some of the fish oil that makes them taste,or smell bad.I have served them fried to several people from just about every where ad if they do taste a difference they never complain. another trick is to cover the meat in dry salt for ten to twenty minutes, then rinse them off with clean cold water and the fry them like any other fish. I season my flour with cajun spices so give it a try, who knows