Drum Pearls?

[YosemiteBen]

Good morning from the west! Still dealing with the Hanta virus fall out around here - since this "epidemic" and school back in session it has gotten quiet around here.  Had a fella in the Museum yesterday from the east. He asked me if I had ever heard of Drum Pearls. I hadn't so he enlightened me to the extent that he knew. I did a little more research last night and voila - enlightenment!  Drum Pearls are osteoliths that grow inside of a sheepshead fish or Drum. They vary in size depending on the fish.  They are rocks and apparently can tell a researcher a lot about a particular fish.  If any of you have experienced these please let me know.  If you have some could I trade you something for some? I would like to see them for my self.  Learn something new every day and you will never be bored.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Ill take a nice Pearl Drum kit over Drum Pearls any day Ben! Cool info to share.

[seabass]

i have heard the noise they make when you catch one yet we allways let them go because the are not good eating.talk to the guys up in the great lakes areas.they may be able to help you out.write halfeye a pm.he is very knowlegable,a fisherman and lives up in drum country.hope this helps.

[Pat B]

Sheepsheads are damn good eating. They are hard to catch though because they take the bait so delicately you hardly feel it. We used to use fiddler crabs for bait.

[raghorns]

I have cut them out of the drum we have caught here in Missouri...one on each side of the head...they can make a lot of noise with them. Very hard...sort of rough...milky white. 

[seabass]

sorry Pat,i was allways told that they were not good eating.we allways let them go,but we were after walleyes.maybe i should have kept a few.now i want to go catch drum.thanks Pat.

[Pat B]

I think we are talking about 2 different fish. The sheepshead is a salt water fish that lives in coastal areas and on reefs.

[seabass]

we are talking about two different fish Pat.i am talking about freshwater drum.they have those ear bones and make that noise.sorry about the confusion.

[tattoo dave]

I'm a great lakes kinda guy, and I caught a few sheep head. They're ok to eat if ya get a small one when the water is still good and cold. Them big ones in hot weather get real mushy. As for the drum pearls, cant say I ever noticed any, but never looked for them either. Cool info, thanks for sharing.

Tattoo Dave

[jcinpc]

we find them inthe saltwater cats here inFl. I used to have a baggie of them but traded them years ago. Best timeto go is when a red tide hits and then wait a week or so fo the smell to go away. We find the cats all over thebeaches and dig them out of the little spots on either side of the heads

[crooketarrow]

  I seen them once at a yard sell and told what they were and where they came form. I was young and dumb and did'nt get them. They only wanted a dollor each this aws in the late 70's.

[Patches]

We used to get alot of them on the rivers in Southeast Missouri.  My dad cut the "drums" out of the heads, but I am not sure what ever happened with them.  We still catch alot of drum now around Truman Lake (west central MO) when we are walleye fishing.  We catrch em on crank baits. They are pretty good to eat out of the lake, but if they are from a dirty stream or river (like the Missorui River) they kinda have a "twang" about them.