i think sheepshead and freshwater drum are the same thing.....we have some in the ohio river....one night cat fishing we caught a few.....i was wondering how big these things get? ive caught a good few in my day...and most are a couple pounds....but my friend said he caught a monsterous one...just wondering how big they get?? and i was wondering if anyone heard the myth story fact...whatever....that some have a pearl between their eyes??? anyone ever hear that? any truth or anything to that? dont know where the guy heard that......but i always wondered...the other drum post made me think of it.....oh ya.....what baits or lures do you guys catch them on??? what about targeting big ones?? what kinda habitat do they like?? i usually just nab one here or there catfishing...think on worms...but i think a few ate liver?? just wondering.....i know theres some in my river....why not fish for htem and try to get a biggun when the cats aint biting?

We get them up to twenty four pounds but the average is about 4-8 pounds. They have a piece of bone on each side above the cheek with a letter L on it. When I was a kid we called them lucky stones and always cut them out when we caught sheepshead. They are white like ivory and are about the size of a quarter with a distinct L on one side. We always caught them with worms while fishing on the bottom in rivers. Big fight when you get a good one. We ate one when I was a kid but I don't think it was all that great.

I was going to guess 40 lbs as a really big one Guess there even bigger ones out there.

I have got most of mine on worms- But i& even my daughter i remember fishing in lake erie/nigara river have got some on lures..

The one snaping my line recently had to be 20+ lbs ez

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Some Freshwater Drum Records

State County Weight Length Location Angler Date
Alabama 41 lbs 8 oz Wilson Reservoir Wilson Brock 7/24/1949
Arkansas 45 lbs 6 oz Lake Wilson Brake Chuck Piker 7/11/2004
Colorado Larimer 17 lbs 3 oz 32" Lonetree Reservoir Faye Lancamp 1978
Illinois Perry 35 lbs 0 oz DuQuoin City Lake Joe Rinella 1960
Indiana Martin 30 lbs 0 oz White River Garland Fellers 1963
Iowa Dickinson 46 lbs 0 oz 38.5" Spirit Lake R.F. Farra 10/1962
Kentucky 38 lbs 0 oz Green River Larry Cardwell 6/5/1980
Manitoba 0 lbs 35"" Fairford River 1998
Michigan Muskegon 26 lbs 0 oz 37.5" Muskegon Lake James Black 1973
Minnesota Winona 35 lbs 3.2 oz 36" Mississippi River - near Winona Richard L. Rolbiecki 10/5/1999
Mississippi 25 lbs 4.32 oz MP&L Lake - near Cleveland George Anderson 3/26/1989
Missouri 40 lbs 8 oz Lake of the Ozarks Ronald P. Wagner 7/11/1996
Montana 20 lbs 7.04 oz 33.5" Fort Peck Reservoir - Big Dry Arm Richard C. Lee 6/20/1987
Nebraska 28 lbs 4 oz Missouri River - below Gavins Point dam Vincent Prazak 10/1/1971
New York 24 lbs 7 oz Ganargua Creek Paul J. Cimicata Jr. 5/26/1995
North Carolina 13 lbs 22 oz Kerr Lake Henry W. Proctor, Sr 10/1/2003
North Dakota 26 lbs 2 oz Lake Sakakawea Larry Harris 1988
Ohio 23 lbs 8 oz 37.125" Sandusky River James S. Williams 7/21/2001
Oklahoma 38 lbs 0 oz 41.75" Tenkiller Lake Harold Phillips 5/23/1976
Ontario 20 lbs 6 oz N/A 0
Pennsylvania Washington 19 lbs 14 oz Monongahela River Tim Rogers 1994
South Dakota 36 lbs 8 oz Missouri River Alvin D. Williams 9/25/1971
Texas 34 lbs 11.2 oz 32.25" Lake Texoma Billy Walker 3/30/1995
West Virginia 27 lbs 0 oz 35.5" South Fork Hughes River Charles M. Lott 1989
Wisconsin Crawford 35 lbs 4 oz Mississippi River unknown 8/29/1992
Wyoming Platte 11 lbs 14 oz 26" Glendo Reservoir Rich Detry 1993

Sheepshead and drum are two different fish, yet they are in the same family. But down here they are saltwater fish. The sheepshead eats oysters, barnacles etc. They do have a set of teeth on them that could bite off a finger if you were careless, or ignorant.
Drum is a family of saltwater fish that contains...red drum (redfish), black drum, spotted seatrout, weakfish, and a couple others that I can't remember right now. The redfish has become quite a sport fish with several tournaments with large prize purses. There is a slot limit that could land you a small fine if you didn't know about it.

Yeah I know the Kansas state record not included in the list above is 31 pounds so they get up there. I caught my first four drum ever this last week down here in Kansas. I caught them on a neon green leadhead and some worm. They were all 3 to 5 pounds not much a challenge for a real pole, but I was using my little 20 inch icefishing pole and it made quit a sport out of it. Anyway it seems like they tend to be more of an aggresive fish cause I've seen them caught on plastic worms and lures also. In freshwater they are not really worth much, but they are entertaining to catch.

i hate it when i catch them and would never fish for them i think that they are the ugliest fish and i dont even like touching them but my biggest would be a 14 pounder that i cought on cut up sheephead when i catfish i ussually try and use gold eyes but when i cant catch them i just use sheephead doesnt work as good but it works i cut the pearl out of my big one and still have it and think of it as lucky but i dont think it works

yeah they are the same thing

hay mauser up in lake erie i cetch abunch. usually in 10-15 pounds. but everynow and then u get some more than 25 pounds

Ditto alot of people around here use live fiddler crabs or live shrimp to catch them around docks/ sea walls and wrecks. Personally I spear fish for them its so much easier then trying to catch one

Sheephead and drum are different species..

Black drum. fl. record 93 pounds

sheephead. fl. record 12 pound 2 ounces

Reddrum. fl. record 51 pounds 8 ounces