Baby Black Drum at Rocky Point State Park

Type: Tidal
Region: Central
Location: Rocky Point State Park

It was nice weather today when I went to Rocky Point State Park here in Middle River to start the seasons of rockfish (striped bass) when I caught this kind of fish (please see attach photo) using my rod with a peeler crab bait. Is this a black drum fish? If not, can you Identify this for me. When I caught this fish, it croaks like a croaker fish. The body of the fish has a striped color black and the lips of the fish is similar to the croaker fish.

I was amazed because I have been fishing in Rocky Point State Park for almost 6 years and this is the first time I caught this kind of fish. I've been catching white perch, yellow perch, catfish, and striped bass but none of this kind of fish. People that were there with me catching fish were amazed because they could not imagine that this kind of fish would appear in the water of Rocky Point State Park. People were saying that the water in the bay is now getting better and cleaner. After taking a picture and measuring the fish, I immediately returned it to the water unharmed.

DNR Response: Yes, that is a black drum. They have the vertical stripes at smaller sizes (younger fish) then they turn brownish grey and the stripes fade as they grow older.