Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Freshwater Drum

By Tom Berg

One common species of fish that is known by many different names is the freshwater drum. Some anglers call them sheephead, or sheepshead, while others call them silver perch, silver bass, gray bass, grunt, grunter, croaker, shepherd’s pie and even gaspergoo. 

These fish are usually silvery-white, but they can also be somewhat bronze-colored depending on where they live.  They have a high-arching back and a low-slung mouth that give them an unusual look. Most of our local drum weigh 1-3 pounds, but they can get as large as 20 pounds – especially in Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.

Freshwater drum are sometimes called grunts or croakers because of the grunting noise mature male fish make. The grunting noise comes from special muscles that vibrate against their swim bladder, and it can be unexpectedly loud. Fishermen are often surprised to hear the grunting after they catch one of these fish.  In fact, the scientific name of freshwater drum is Aplodinotus grunniens, and grunniens comes from a Latin word meaning “grunting”.

Drum prefer to feed on or near the bottom, where they eat crayfish, aquatic insects and mollusks like snails and mussels. Larger individuals eat fish, too, and they are fast enough to chase down any fish small enough to fit into their mouth. Very large drum can be surprisingly old, reaching ages of 70 years or more.

Drum are good to eat, so feel free to keep some for dinner. Contrary to popular belief they are no more bony than other freshwater fish, and they can be filleted quite easily. Their meat can be a bit rubbery if overcooked, though, and the meat from larger drum tends to be tougher than the fillets from smaller fish. Cut the fillets into small strips and cook like imitation shrimp or poor-man’s lobster.

So get your fishing gear ready and head for the water.  If you catch a freshwater drum this summer, hold it close to your ear and see if you can hear it grunting!

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