Red drum, sciaenops ocellatus, are also called redfish, puppy drum, spot-tail bass, channel bass and spot-tail drum. They are long-lived fish that reach sexual maturity slowly and are one of the few fish that fishery managers allow to be harvested before reaching reproductive size, which is roughly 28 to 32 inches.
North Carolina allows recreational fishermen to keep one fish per day in a slot between 18 to 27 inches. A high percentage of red drum are in the population at any time are still juveniles of less than 30 inches.
North Carolina has a population of mature or “old” drum, as many fishermen call them, that winters offshore, feeds in the surf in the spring and fall and moves into Pamlico Sound during the summer to spawn. The state and all-tackle world-record red drum weighed 94 pounds, 2 ounces and was caught by David Deuel in the surf near Avon on Hatteras Island in 1984.
Lee Paramore, a biologist with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, said most males mature in 4 to 5 years, at around 28 to 29 inches and females around 30 to 32 inches. He said all fish will summer in the estuaries and surf. When winter comes, immature fish will remain in the estuaries, while mature fish head offshore. Once red drum begin wintering offshore in the ocean, they will spawn the next summer.
Red drum are considered to be hardy fish that tolerate catch-and-release well. This has led to red drum tournaments growing in popularity as the fish can be weighed live, tagged and released.
