Freshwater drum

[kc]

I hate to throw cold water on this thread which is giving a lot of love to eating drum but I didn't have such a good experience. I catch them all of the time down at the big lakes and also had the impression all of my life that they weren't good eating. But realizing I had never tried them last year we were gathering fish for a fry and I kept one to see how it compared. It was nasty -- so bad I couldn't eat it and gave it to the dog. I am not a particularly picky fish eater but the meat on the fish I filleted was dark and very strong to the taste. Maybe I picked a bad apple to fillet for a drum but I am back to they are not good eating fish. Or maybe like other fish like whites and stripers where you need to cut out the red meat under the skin only parts of the meat are good where as I used the whole fillet. Even with catfish I find some are very mild and tasty where others are stronger (I am talking about within the same species - blues / channels, flatheads are always very tasty).

That said I think you should try one and see for yourself if they are good or not. The worst thing that will happen is it won't taste good which is my bet...

kc

[igloo]

It really depends on where and when you catch them. They vary a lot. I've had some taste ok but others like plastic.

[crappiepappy]

My experience has been that it's what size fish & what body of water they came out of, that determines how they taste. But, in any event, I'd shave off the red meat portion of the fillets, as that's where the strong (fishy/muddy) taste comes from.
I've eaten them, back in my youth ... and the larger ones were not all that good. But, they weren't filleted, and the red meat wasn't removed (on any size) ... so that may have been the problem.
I think a lot of people don't eat them, for the simple reason that they're just downright butt ugly ... and people associate their looks with what they perceive the taste will be.

It's also noteworthy to mention that Freshwater Drum are mentioned several times in the Consumption Advisory (PCB's & Mercury) for certain bodies of water. (see the Ky Fishing/Boating Guide for details)

... pappy

[Mean Morone]

Yes my buddy says to eat the small ones. I ate one once and it was fishy tasting(strong)but not all that bad. There are plenty of other fish that taste better so all the ones I catch get to back and grow.

[KentuckyBristle]

I've also read that immediately cooling them down, if it's not already cold weather, is important to keep the flavor mild.