Try taking that shell off the crab next time. Reds tend to shy away from the crabs shell Spike. Crab is fine for Black Drum especially when we have the Black Drum run in March here in G-town. Fresh cut mullet is what I use for Reds. Did you keep the BULLS or CPR? The smaller reds are better table fare. I let the Bulls go myself. What's the daily bag limit and slot measurements for Black Drum and Reds in La. ?

We've never had a problem catching bull reds leaving the shell on. We've tried taking the shell off, but it does not increase catch rates. Removing the shell tends to have the crab last only a short while because it gets picked apart by small catfish. Cut mullet is our second choice if crab is unavailable. We keep nearly all the bull reds we catch, as we've found a number of recipes that work really well with them.

The bag limit for both reds and drum is 5 of each species. The slot is 16-27" and anglers can keep one per day over 27". If there are three anglers in the boat, three bull reds and three bull black drum is quite a meat haul.