Fish Stories

Loved the fish stories guys. I don't have any stories of my own to tell about fish as I was never a great fisherman. I do remember Judy having the patients to sit for hours on end on the bank, with her line in the water, watching a bobber. Myself, I was much too busy to linger for long--I had places to go and things to do. The funny thing is that in our more senior years we have not changed. Judy spends many hours working on crafty projects to share with other people and I am constantly on the move. Anyway, as my contribution to the fish stories, I have found a picture of a drum fish and a little history of them. LaDonna

The freshwater drum isn't an attractive, interesting, tasty fish (ignoring for the moment that there are folks who say it is all those things). A forty-pounder that puts up a good fight on your line is NOT a useless fish. Some people would be happy to catch a forty-pound ANYTHING, assuming it isn't, say, an inner tube.
Drums belong to the family Sciaenidae and there are several kinds. Aplodinotus grunniens. "Grunniens" means grunting; the mature males have a special set of muscles that vibrate against the swim bladder making a noise underwater that resembles the sound of a distant drum. The purpose of this drumming is unknown, but is probably related to why a lot of men drum and why gorillas beat their chests--it's all about reproduction and being more butch than the other guy. When you take them out of the water they also croak like bullfrogs. The drum has an earbone called an "otolith" which has white enameled surfaces almost like ivory. These otoliths are sometimes made into jewelry and were kept by early people as lucky, protective amulets (presumably after they ate the fish).