Drum Bay fishing

[Seanpwilliams98]

Since Christmas Bay seems to be too worked over by the oyster guys. Drum bay is another close option to fish. It has much dirtier water and a muddier bottom. I've had some luck with live shrimp from the bank in the past but now that I have a kayak I'd like to try to sight fish some tailing reds or target drains. Especially in southwestern drum bay (By the housing development). Does anyone have any advice for that area? Safety, baits, techniques, etc? I know there's a ton of reefs in that area as well as super soft mud.


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[karstopo]

Fished there over the years, but not recently. Lot of shell. Lots of structure. Water levels, water movement, and wind kind of dictate where I go. Plenty of edges there, shorelines, Reefs.

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[karstopo]

Paddle tails are what I used there for years. Topwaters too. Really anything. A kayak will be nice there. Not a great place to Wade. That very lower end South of the original subdivision is really full of shell. That area is hard to navigate in medium water if the water is mudded up. Can't see the shell. I think shorelines and shell at drum. Moving water. Drop offs. It's a little bay and most of it can be scouted in an outing if you move around.

[adanvjr]

Drum Bay is mostly flat with water ranging from 1 to 2 ft.
The only exception for depth change is the boat channel that runs through that leads to Christmas, and a part in the southwest part of the main bay that goes deep.

Like Karstopo said, the south-end is full of shell. I went there in November to explore.
It was practically a minefield of shell, so be paddle carefully. I wanted to explore the south-end lake, but it was Duck hunting season and there were decoys present there.

[Cityfisher]

I like to fish the area where the kayak launch is across from Beach Access Rd#4. I guess youd call it the main part of that bay. It is hit or miss though. I've never seen any tailing reds, but if the conditions are right, especially in the fall the reds will be working the grass shore lines chasing small shrimp. I think you could have a better chance though following that boat channel in the middle. (The old Intercoastal) There is a shell bank that lines each side of the channel and you can drift along it and snag some reds, flounder and trout around there. I have had my best luck doing that. But with that said, that bay will change on you overnight. One evening you'll see reds working the shoreline and hear them blowing up and the next morning you won't see a single thing. It just teases and tortures me sometimes!
Like Karstopo told me one time a while back though, that bay does have a lot of nooks and krannies to explore and pick up some good fish if you explore.

[Yaklash]

Not a great place to Wade

I'll say. Back in the early 80s, I found this to be true. Perfect for kayak fishing, but I've never been able to get a handle on the tide there relative to the nearest station (Freeport?) and always seem to get there at the wrong time.

I know a lot of spotted seatrout fingerlings have been released there in the last few years. A friend has a place right next to where they put them in. Ought to be keepers by now

[karstopo]

The tide times there are tough. I can't say I've got it down pat. It sometimes seems to track about like Eagle Point way over in Galveston Bay. Christmas Point tides can be pretty informative, too. It seems to miss some of the minor tide level, 4 tide days, changes.

Several years ago I used to think Drum Bay was pretty much about redfish and flounder. If I caught a trout or two there it was by mostly an accident. My buds and I seem to be getting more trout there than we did back then. Maybe the numbers are up. I'd like think we've figured some of what makes that bay tick, some of the time, anyway. I haven't been out there or anyplace in a while. Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles.