# The Drum has been Beaten.......



## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

Shannon and I woke up to light drizzling rain this morning and after coffee we decided to see if we could find a stretch of beach and set up for her to tangle up with her first Pompano and hopefully pick up a dinner date with a couple of em. 

We get to our first spot and the drizzling rain kept us from unloading our gear but on the way back home the weather showed a slight clearing that lured us back to the beach and another attempt this time we got to the water’s edge and set up three spikes. Left rod was slightly to the east, middle was straight out and right was slightly to the west. 

Not long after baiting up the sun burned its way through the low clouds and I walked back to the truck to get my sunglasses………….only to return to see Shannon wrestling with a fresh caught Pompano on the beach well she got her first and I was at the truck. 

We re-baited and sat down enjoying the cool breeze and occasion rays of sun that seemed to almost be perfect in timing of warming us up between clouds….. A little later the right rod goes down and I mean DOWN. Shannon gets up and runs over pulling it out of the spike and just holding as whatever has just taken our offering is not too bothered by the pull of the 6# Mono that links it to Shannon. 

She pulls and it pulls more……it goes east and she follows….it goes west and she follows….. it runs and she lets it but never letting up on it for quite a while….

Well into the fight She eventually gets tired enough to share her fortune with a young angler that was part of the gallery that had formed over the first 20 minutes of the fight. He was delighted to say the least. Upon handing him the completely bent and loaded rod the Young Man looked at his Mother with HUGE eyes and said “It’s VERY STRONG”. 

He pulled on it and I did my best to coach him along as he did his best to lean on the fish with all his 40lbs of body weight would produce until he was too tired to go anymore also. I took over and gave Shannon and her new fishing buddy a breather until Shannon was ready to get back into the game and finish the fight she started. 

She gave the fish a fit and shortly it came into view off the beach she had been aggravating a very large Black Drum. The fish seemed to never tire enough to allow her to get it into shallow enough water to be landed and she followed the HUGE Drum as it led her up and down the beach. Eventually it wore down to the point that each wave helped her make progress in getting the massive fish closer and closer to the beach where I waited to for the moment to get a good handle on the fish. Shannon did very well at learning to time her efforts in coordination with the lapping waves onto the beach and after a few minutes the fish turned on its side and found my right hand firm to its lower jaw. Shannon had bested the fish with somewhere around a 10 to 1 handicap on 6lb Mono. 

As I pulled the fish up out of the water ...... Her Gallery cheered and her Young Fishing Buddy got the picture of his young life. 


As Shannon waded out with the HUGE Drum to revive it and set it free I spoke to the little boy’s mother who was ecstatic with joy. The little boy’s father has been away from home overseas and the pictures she took were just as much for his father as they were for the young angler. It made me realize how important it is to share your blessings as they may have more impact on others than you. 

Thanks for taking the time to share our brief morning fishing trip and my rambling on….and I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful Spring.


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## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

This is the right picture of Shannon after she hooked up. 

Sad when you have a wife that has multiple pictures in your laptop that are titled Fish On...................


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## Nokomis (Nov 12, 2012)

Awesome Job, headed to Pickens in a bit, what Did the Drum hit? Thanks for the Post...


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Dang, that's a stud drum! Way to go!


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## Garbo (Oct 2, 2007)

Nokomis, it ate a Peeled Shrimp on a Pompano Rig. 

Best of Luck to you, I understand the Sheephead are showing up well.


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## stc1993 (Nov 23, 2014)

Very nice, fish & gesture to the young angler. WTG.


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

Nice! Glad the weather finally cooperated for you!


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Great story as always from Garbo, welcome back I missed your regular posts.


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## jonscott8 (Jan 18, 2015)

Awesome report and kudos for involving the kiddo. Amazing that drum on 6#.


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## 192 (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice job Curtis!


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## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

Awesome ! That kid will remember that for years ! :thumbsup:


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## fishin for pompanos (May 10, 2012)

Awesome family time fishing on the beach. Nice catch and thanks for the report.


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## Emerald Ghost (Mar 11, 2008)

I'm sure Shannon was already aware of your fishing prowess, but you just hooked that kid for life. :notworthy:


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## Inn Deep (Oct 3, 2007)

Good to see you post! I've missed them That's one heck of a fish on 4lb!! It is so cool to share with someone like that.


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## Pier#r (Oct 2, 2007)

Sounds (and looks) like a great day all around Curtis.
Thanks for sharing!


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## Pilar (Oct 28, 2014)

That is one monster drum! I'm sure everyone enjoyed seeing that beast come in.


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## Surf Fan (Mar 8, 2012)

What a Nice fish. Those big black drum fight hard. Its like pulling in a 50lb anchor with kite string!
Way to go!


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