Greetings All!
Black drum are being caught off Slaughter Beach in DE, so they should also be in the Chesapeake now. The traditional Chesapeake hot spot for black drum is Stone Rock, not far from the mouth of the 'Tank. As I pointed out in another post, the drum family are very tolerant of sweetwater for prolonged periods, so I wouldn't doubt the possibility of black drum at the bridge/pier in Spring. The traditional bait is one or more surf clams on a 9/0 hook, but 60 lb drum have been caught on squid strips while drifting for fluke, weaks, and croaker. Finicky black drum can't resist a hook full of large shrimp. Many drum fishermen tie their baits onto the hook with thread (like Ghost Cocoon) because drum like to mouth a bait before tossing it back in their throats. Just think of them as oversized carp on steroids....
Once the spawn is over, the majority of big drum move out of the bays and parallel beaches, sometimes surprising snoozing surf fishermen (or pulling their rigs in the drink!) Baby black drum around 5 pounds or so are caught in the bays during August and September. These fish have been around for tens of thousands of years, and nobody really knows how long it takes for them to reach sexual maturity. Please treat them with a little respect -- if you're not going to eat the fish, release it after a good picture shoot. I hate it when these big fish end up in dumpsters....