by Nate Skinner
THE BLACK DRUM RUN
FISH FOR WHAT’S BITING THIS WINTER...
T
he clicker on one reel went off
as the rod bowed. As I set the
hook into what felt like a brick
wall, a rod to the left began to
bounce before bending steadily under the
weight of another hefty fish. “They
always do this,” came a voice from the
helm. “They bite in spurts! Don’t be
surprised if another hooks up, too!”
As the cool southeast wind roughed
up the Galveston channel, waves
incessantly splashed the sides of our
dainty craft. Any other time, I’d be
wondering why in the world we were
even out there, enduring such a beating!
But amongst the dark clouds building
with the approaching cold front, all
negative thoughts were left ashore. We
tightened up our jackets, and continued
to hook fish after fish. The rods bent until
we ran out of bait, and catching black
drum had never been so fun!
Years ago, that was my first
experience of what many anglers refer to
as the “Black Drum Run.” Aboard the
first boat I’d ever bought, my longtime
fishing partner and friend, Michael Plitt,
introduced me to the art of targeting these
fish on purpose. These weren’t just any
drum, by the way, they were monsters
with some weighing in at over 40 pounds.
When the afternoon was over, w