December Chapter Meeting

Speaker: Jerry Darkes, Northeast Ohio fly fishing professional

Subject: “Banging the Drum”-Freshwater Drum on the Fly

The freshwater drum is one of the most widely distributed freshwater fish in North America being found from the Red River drainage in Manitoba south into Nicaragua. They are found mainly in lakes and larger river systems. Depending on the region, Drum can be important commercial species, a prized sportfish, or considered a bait stealing trash fish. Drum respond to a wide range of angling techniques and are a challenging fly rod target. They grow large and make strong runs when hooked. Drum will take a wide range of fly patterns in different situations. The ultimate drum challenge is sight-fishing for them in shallow water. Here they can become as difficult as saltwater permit to take on a fly. We’ll take a close look at the fish, review how to catch them on flies and look at several primary locations to target them.

The Raffle items for this presentation will be fly fishing items more information fourth coming.