Hey ya'll,

I've got an itchin to catch me a Gasper Goo. Probably going to fish Belton or Stillhouse. Once suggestion is to use a "slab" - either silver or chartreuse (can't believe real men are even using the word "chartreuse"...what's wrong with "yeller"?). If you have a suggestion on what you have used, drop a reply.

Also, I have read that you have to "clean them right" to get rid of the slime and make them good to eat. Is this just hooey or is there a method?

All input welcome.

I would post this in the rough fish section....probably get alot of replies down there....

Live crawdad on the bottom.

live worms

I was at belton sunday caught 5 and 1 channel cat, dont know thier weight but the smallest was 16in. I fished on the rocks by the dam using live crawfish. if you are fishing from the bank just turn over a few rocks by the water and you will get all the crawfish you want/need. The only fish I catch with consistency in this spot are cats and gasper goos. If you go in the morning before it gets hot you can see the goos cruising the shore line. I used a carolina rig with sz 1 or 2 circle hook (Depending on the size of the bait). I hooked the crawfish through the tail, on one rig I cut off the legs and claws, on the other I cut the legs and kept the claws. Caught fish on both, they dont seem care how you present the bait. I've also caught them on worms and minnows in the same spot. When I cleaned the fish all of them including the cat had crawfish in thier stomachs

clams - best goo bait period caught many a 10+ pounders on clams

yeah creyfish and clams and whiteroad runners are the bait I see the guys catching them on in the rough fish section also Justin Starlessdragon can tell you how to clean and prepare

Crawfish, mussels, shrimp, live minnows, dead minnows, nightcrawlers, cut shad...I've caught drum on all of them.

If you want to use artificials...

I've caught drum on Rapala crankbaits, Roostertails, Rattletraps, standard jigs and roadrunners.

Drum are very sensitive to vibration, and can be very aggressive, so anything that makes noise or bounces along the bottom is likely to get their attention. They love crawfish, so if they see something scooting across the bottom they're going to nail it.

As far as preparing them, they fillet up real easy, just like a giant crappie or white bass.

On a larger fish you want to clean out any red meat you see along the lateral line, then prepare them however you want. They are great boiled or baked and dipped in butter, and they are even better breaded and fried up like catfish, white bass, crappie, etc.

I think they are every bit as good eating or better then white bass.

Caught this one on a white roadrunner:



Bret caught this one on a white roadrunner as well:


I caught this one on a RoosterTail last winter:

Freshwater drum are great fish. They taste somewhere between crappie and white bass. No extra bones, that slime is outside, not in the meat, and are not tough, rubbery, etc, etc (no matter what your grandpa or neighbor Bob says).

The best bait of all time for freshwater drum is muscles. Nothing better. As a matter of fact, the colloquial name "gasper goo" comes from the French Casse burgau which translates to mussel breaker.

They fight better than the most popular sportfish in the US, they taste great, they're plentiful, they'll take artificials well enough.

I'd shy away from eating one over 10 lbs or so, but this holds true with many species.

let us know how it goes.,

and another pic:

I have heard to take a live crawdad, crush his head with your fingers (so the goop will run out) and fish it on the bottom. When I tried this at Glouster on Lake Travis years ago, it worked very well.

OK, this is going to be a tough one. See, I'm a Cajun orig from South Louisiana. Now what you're telling this Cajun is that he has to (1) CATCH a crawfish and (2) NOT put it in a pot.

My My My...the choices one has to make in life... :>P

I guess I can make that sacrifice for catching a Goo. Thanks for giving me the tip on what these Texas Goo like to bite. Pretty much the same as back in Louisiana except they use shrimp.

Oh..in case you were wondering...Yes, this Cajun used to fish in Louisiana, but my fishing days stopped when I was about 15 and didn't resume until about three years ago (I'm 43 now)...LONG story. Most of my fishing back then was coastal - specs, flounder, red drum, etc. Not much inland fresh water fishing except for a catfish or two.

Thanks for the tips. I might try a Carolina rig with a crawfish or salamander. I also have a couple of those chatter bait do-hickey's. Will try bouncing those off of the rocks and see what happens.

Well, I hit WalMart yesterday and renewed the ole license (Expired last Friday) and picked up some goodies for the "Goo/Croaker" fishing. Now the arsenal includes a
Creme Carolina rig with "crawfish" tube bait and a pack of "YUM" Crawbug/Crawdad. Since I already have a Carolina rig, I'll probably give that to my fishing buddy and rig mine with the YUM bait. However, he says he's going with worms and shad.

I caught TONS of drum out of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River today, mostly on white Roadrunners, as well as a couple on 1/8oz rattletraps, and a lot on cut green sunfish as well.