The tales about battles with certain oversized Lake Erie fish are legion, typically including colorful language and multiple exclamation points.

Every Erie angler has a boatload of stories about these abundant fish. They fight with ferocity, digging for the deep with broom tails and using their wide bodies to aquaplane against the angler’s powerful rod.

Despite their willingness to bite and the never-give-up sport they provide, they are rarely greeted with glee. Instead, the “lucky” anglers let expletives fly and often bleat like a sheep.

“Baaaaaa!”

For pure fishing fun, however, the much-maligned freshwater drum are hard to beat. Fishing friend Patrick Fire of Canfield suggested recently that anglers ought to rally for the drum, also known as sheepshead.

Fire and I were among the members of Mohawk Valley Bass Club of Youngstown who traveled to Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie last weekend for a bass tournament. Nearly every angler in the event reported multiple encounters with the ubiquitous sheepshead.

I hooked, battled and boated 16 of the so-called “trash” fish Sunday while bouncing tube jigs and drop-shot rigs in 15 to 18 feet of water out in the main lake east of Presque Isle Bay.

I was targeting smallmouth bass. While I was disappointed that the smallies weren’t as numerous as I’d hoped, I did find a lot of amusement in winching up the drum that gobbled my goby-like baits. It is apparent they are finding plenty to eat. Most of them topped four pounds; several pushed past seven pounds.

Fire audaciously suggested we needed to embrace sheepshead for what they are: a hard-fighting gamefish that is often much more willing to cooperate than our preferred walleyes and smallmouth bass.

I say we ought to consider scheduling a sheepshead tournament. Bass anglers typically encounter twice the number of sheepshead as smallmouth bass on Lake Erie and walleye charter anglers also are annoyed by the sheepshead that snatch their nightcrawler rigs before the preferred species gets to them.

Perhaps that’s the way to make the walleyes and smallies more cooperative – set up a drum-only tournament and we’ll all limit out on everything but drum.

Last Sunday, my first cast of the morning woke up a sheepshead nearly as wide as a garbage can lid. The fish pulled so hard I feared my 8-pound-test line would snap. I finally hauled the fish boatside, twisted the hook from its underslung mouth and watched it kick back to the bottom.

Most consider sheepshead poor table fare. I’ve never eaten one, but Dave Kelch of the Ohio Sea Grant organization wrote a pamphlet that suggests several ways to prepare and cook sheepshead that diners find delightful.

For best results, ice drum immediately after catching and cook them fresh. Remove the skin and all of the red meat. Fish in the 12- to 15-inch range can be dredged in flour and fried. The meat of larger fish is denser, with a texture that resembles swordfish or tuna, which makes it good for mock lobster and shrimp recipes.

This reminds me that many years ago, most people thought lobsters were awful.

So maybe a sheepshead tournament is not such a crazy idea, especially if we cap our day with a shore lunch of fresh-caught drum scampi.

Jack Wollitz’s new book, The Common Angler: A Celebration of Fishing, was released May 11. Jack appreciates emails from readers. Send a note to him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.