UTERTo tell a redfish from a black drum, look under the chin. Black drum have short barbels (whiskers) on the lower jaw, and redfish never do. Most redfish also carry a black spot at the base of the tail, and black drum don't. Those two features settle almost every fish, from a 14-inch rat red to a 40-pound bull black drum.
The color you see is the least reliable clue. A redfish from tannic backcountry water can look dark bronze. A black drum on a sand flat can look pale silver-gray. And both come off the same oyster bar on the same shrimp.
Quick-ID table
| Feature | Redfish (red drum) | Black drum |
|---|---|---|
| Chin barbels | None | Yes: a row of short barbels on the lower jaw |
| Tail spot | One or more black eyespots at the tail base (a few fish have none) | None |
| Color | Copper-bronze back fading to a pale belly | Gray to black back, lighter belly; small fish silvery |
| Body profile | Long and fairly straight-backed | Short and deep, with a high, arched back |
| Vertical bars | None | Four to six dark bars on juveniles, fading with age |
| Tail | Squarish, slightly concave edge | Squarish |
| Max size (FWC) | Up to about 61 inches | Up to about 67 inches |
| Typical spot | Grass flats, oyster bars, creek mouths, surf in the fall | Bridge and dock pilings, oyster beds, deeper bays and channels |
The features in detail
Barbels: the one that never lies
FWC calls the chin barbels the key difference between black drum and both red drum and sheepshead. They are short, fleshy feelers in a row under the lower jaw, used to find crabs and clams in the mud. On a big black drum they're obvious. On a 10-inch "puppy" drum they're small, so tip the fish up and look, or shoot a photo looking up at the chin.
The tail spot: usually, not always
The redfish's black spot near the tail is an eyespot, a false eye that may draw a predator's strike away from the head. Most fish have one. Many have two or a row of them, and FWC notes some have none at all. A spotless red is still a red. Check the chin.
Shape and color
Redfish are long fish with a fairly level back and a copper or bronze sheen. Black drum are humpbacked and deep, with large scales, a gray to black back and, on small fish, a silvery body. Both have an underslung mouth for feeding on the bottom. Both crush shellfish with heavy pharyngeal teeth deep in the throat, which is why both eat crab so well.
The third fish in the picture: juvenile drum vs sheepshead
The more common mix-up is a small black drum and a sheepshead. Juvenile black drum have four to six bold vertical bars, much like a sheepshead's convict stripes, and both hang on the same pilings. Two checks separate them:
- Chin: black drum have barbels; sheepshead have none.
- Teeth: a sheepshead has a front row of flat, human-looking incisors. A black drum's crushing teeth are in its throat, out of sight.
Sheepshead also have a sharp, spiny dorsal fin and a smaller mouth set lower on a steeper face.
Where each one lives
Both range along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and in places like Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, the First Coast and the Louisiana marsh you can catch both on the same tide.
- Redfish tail on shallow grass flats, push wakes along mangrove shorelines, crawl oyster bars and, in the fall, school by the hundred in the passes and surf to spawn. In winter FWC finds them over seagrass, mud and sand, and around oyster bars and spring-fed creeks.
- Black drum are bottom fish of bays, river mouths and lagoons. They hold near oyster beds, docks and bridge pilings. Big adults also move to nearshore structure and the inlets in late winter and spring, when the big schools show up.
Bait doesn't separate them. Both eat shrimp, crab and cut bait on the bottom. A half blue crab on a bridge piling is the classic black drum bait, and a gold spoon on a flat is the classic redfish lure. But plenty of black drum eat a jig meant for a red.
The mistakes we see most
"It had no spot, so it's a black drum"
A spotless redfish is uncommon but real. So is a redfish with a dozen spots down its side, which anglers call a leopard red. Neither changes the species. If there are no barbels under the chin, it isn't a black drum, whatever the tail shows.
"It's dark, so it's a black drum"
Redfish living over dark mud, in tannic rivers or under mangroves can be deep bronze, nearly brown on the back. Black drum caught on a white sand flat can look almost silver. Shade follows the water the fish lived in, not the species.
"It's striped, so it's a sheepshead"
A 12-inch black drum still wearing its juvenile bars is easy to call a sheepshead, especially off the same piling on the same fiddler crab. Flip it and check the chin. Barbels mean drum, and front teeth like a person's mean sheepshead.
Judging by the fight
Both pull hard and stay down. Redfish tend to make long, steady runs across a flat. Black drum feel heavier and slower and tend to sit and shake their heads. It's a fun tell, but it's no ID. Bring the fish to hand and look.
Calling it from a hand-held photo
A fish held up at an angle hides both the chin and the tail base. If you need to settle a bet later, take the two shots that matter while the fish is still in your hands: the flank with the tail, and the chin from below.
Why it matters: different rules
Redfish and black drum are managed under separate rules, with their own size limits, bag limits and, in some places, special areas. Florida, for example, manages red drum by region, and black drum have a separate rule of their own. Texas and Louisiana set their own rules for both fish. These numbers change, so we don't print them here. Before you keep either fish, check:
- Florida: FWC red drum and FWC black drum
- Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife saltwater rules
- Louisiana: LDWF seasons and regulations
- Georgia to the Carolinas: Georgia DNR, SCDNR, NC Marine Fisheries
Both are measured in total length in Florida, from the closed mouth to the tip of the pinched tail. See FWC's measurement guide.
Photographing a drum for an ID
If you want an app or a friend to confirm the fish, take one flat side-on shot that shows the tail base, and one close shot looking up at the chin. Those two frames hold every feature in the table above. Our guide to identifying a fish from a photo covers the rest.
Let Fish Scouter check it
Red vs black drum is one of the look-alike pairs Fish Scouter's Fish ID is told to separate carefully. It shows you the marks it used, for example "no chin barbels, black spot at the tail," and how sure it is. Then it opens the species card with the season for your water, the baits that work and a link to the current rule. See the redfish and black drum pages, then try Fish Scouter free on your next drum.