The freshwater drum is a bottom feeder; its diet consists of mollusks, insects, and fish. Although a strong fighter, it is not generally highly regarded as either a sport or a food fish. The following are fishing methods used to catch this fish:
Though it is a fairly distinctive fish, its deep body, humped back, blunt snout and subterminal mouth have led some to confuse it with the carp and the buffalos. It can be easily distinguished by its two dorsal fins (only one in the carp and buffalos) and its rounded, rather than forked tail. Also, the first dorsal fin of the freshwater drum is composed of 8-9 spines, whereas the carp has only one spine at the beginning of its single soft rayed dorsal fin and the buffalos have no spines at all.