Red Drum
Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: at least one black eyespot at the base of the tail. Many fish carry several, and the spot is the fastest identification on the flat. The look-alike to rule out is Black Drum: black drum have chin barbels, vertical bars on young fish, and no tail spot.
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| Scientific name | Sciaenops ocellatus |
|---|---|
| Also called | redfish, channel bass, spottail bass, puppy drum, bull red |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Drum |
| Temperature | Feeds across a wide band from the high 50s to the mid-80s °F, most actively in the 70s. |
How to identify a Red Drum
- At least one black eyespot at the base of the tail. Many fish carry several, and the spot is the fastest identification on the flat.
- Copper to bronze-red flanks with a white belly, and no chin barbels.
- A blunt, downturned mouth set under the snout for rooting on the bottom.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Black Drum | Black drum have chin barbels, vertical bars on young fish, and no tail spot. |
| Spotted Seatrout | Seatrout are spotted over the whole rear body and tail, have prominent canine teeth, and lack the single tail eyespot. |
Side-by-side comparisons
Read the full entry for Black Drum.
Where it lives
Atlantic and Gulf coasts from the mid-Atlantic to Texas. Juveniles and slot fish live on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh drains and surf; bulls move to passes, jetties and nearshore wrecks to spawn in autumn.
Temperature
Feeds across a wide band from the high 50s to the mid-80s °F, most actively in the 70s.
The conditions that matter
Redfish on a flat are a tide fish first. They push onto the flat as water floods and drop back to the drains and troughs as it falls, and each spot has a stage that fires and several that do not. Wind direction adds or removes water beyond the predicted tide. Tide stage and wind logged against every fish is how you learn which of your marks goes on which stage.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about red drum into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.