EDGEWATER, Fla., — March 6, 2014 — When saltwater anglers discuss their favorite species, “black drum” is not usually at the top of the list. While this bottom-dweller grows very large (over 100 pounds) and fights with the might of the Wabash Cannonball, it just doesn’t draw the acclaim of its cousin the redfish — or most other inshore game fish.
“It’s not a glamour fish, not a high-profile fish,” said fisheries biologist Mike Murphy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.
But the black drum is very precious to light-tackle guide captain Joe Porcelli of Edgewater and his colleagues who fish primarily in the shallow waters of east-central Florida’s Indian River Lagoon. For them, it’s another species to target when the reds aren’t cooperating or when it’s too cold for snook and tarpon, or too rough to fish offshore.
Porcelli has made a big part of his career catching really big black drum. He is responsible for 11 IGFA world records — all but one as a guide — including a 90 1/2-pounder caught on four-pound-test line by Raleigh Werking of Edgewater in 1998 and a 66-pound junior world record for Coral Springs’ Heather Harkavy in 2009.
Read the full story at the Miami Herald