A good bait for red drum is menhaden. Younger fish are often indistinguishable in flavor from red drum. Cannonballs eat mainly zooplankton such as veligers, and also all forms of red drum larvae. It featured rapper Splash Drexler, and had production from Nikki Bunkin, Shoki, and Red Drum. Along the Gulf Coast there are seasonal runs of tarpon, pompano, red drum, and bonito. As red drum grow longer, they increase in weight exponentially. Red drum can live to be 60 years old. Red drum have a moderate flavor and are not oily. Immature red drum prefer grass marsh areas of bays and estuaries when available. Three-year-old red drum typically weigh 6-8 lb. The red drum has a characteristic eyespot near the tail and is somewhat streamlined. Red drum hit a bait aggressively and are a much beloved surf fishing species. Popular saltwater game fish include red drum, spotted seatrout, flounder, and tarpon. Mature red drum spawn in near shorelines from mid-August to mid-October. The red drum, "Sciaenops ocellatus", produces drumming sounds by vibrating its swimbladder.