As anglers, we know that every fish has its own story to tell, and each catch offers a unique experience. The practice of catch-and-release fishing allows us to land fish that have been caught before, and what's truly fascinating is that we often identify them by their distinct appearances. Whether it’s unusual spot or scale patterns, the size and shape of their fins, or scars from predators or previous catches, no two fish are exactly alike.

We’re suckers for a great fish tale, so when we stumbled upon the Drum Spots Instagram page, filled with one-of-a-kind fish that Andrew Brown and fellow drum anglers have shared, we knew we had to dive deeper into the stories behind them. After countless redfish encounters of his own, Andrew founded Drum Spots in 2015 to capture the individuality and natural wonder of these fish. What began as a social media account has since grown into a thriving community and business, uniting anglers with their share of extraordinary fish patterns. In this interview, we sit down with Andrew to hear more about his passion for unique fish and how starting an Instagram page transformed into something much bigger.

John Frazier, Simms:

It’s clear you’ve been fishing for redfish for a while. When did your fascination with their spots begin, and how did that evolve into what you're doing today?

Yeah, I got into it in my mid-20s. I didn’t grow up fishing as much as some others, but my best friend and his family were hardcore anglers, and they took me out one day. We were surf fishing, using sand fleas as bait, and I hooked into a massive bull redfish. That moment was what really got me—the excitement, the fight of these powerful fish. From there, I was hooked.

As I kept fishing for redfish, I noticed something interesting. Of course, they all have that standard spot on the base of their tails, but some had five, six, or even more spots. I started to wonder why they were so different from fish to fish. While other species had small variations, redfish were wildly unique. That fascination stayed with me.

Eventually, I joined Instagram, thanks to Captain Blair Williams. He had a photo contest called Show Your Mogan, and that got me started on the platform. Soon, I discovered hashtags like #redfish, and I’d see these incredible fish with wild, beautiful spot patterns. At the same time, a local bait and tackle shop stopped hosting an annual redfish tournament I loved, so everything aligned. That’s when I created Drum Spots, where I could showcase these unique fish and later start the Spot Tournament.

That’s awesome, man. Your story takes me back to two memorable experiences I had with redfish. Growing up in Florida, they were the fish that really hooked me. I grew up fishing freshwater lakes, but I always longed to fish the saltwater. I was around seven, and my family was at Crescent Beach. We weren’t taking it seriously—just soaking dead bait and shrimp in the surf—but out of nowhere, my rod doubled over. I fought and landed an 18-pound redfish from the surf, and that experience sparked my obsession.

Later, I got into fly fishing. I’ll never forget the first redfish I caught on a fly. Oddly enough, it didn’t have any spots, and I was bummed. Eventually, I learned how unique each redfish's markings can be.

Fast forward a bit, I was on a video shoot and came across the most unique redfish I’d ever seen. Every scale seemed to have its own mini spot.

Yeah, that’s the rarest pattern we see—the "leopard" pattern. From my time running Drum Spots, I’ve learned what patterns are common and which are incredibly rare. That leopard pattern, where the whole body is covered in spots from head to tail, is definitely uncommon. I created hashtags for each type of pattern, and if you check out #drumspots_leopard, you’ll see some examples of what you’re describing. They’re striking fish.

John:
So, your obsession started in your 20s, and it led to both the Instagram page and the Spot Tournament. Tell me more about the tournament and some of the wild stories from the Drum Spots community.

The first Spot Tournament kicked off in February 2015, so it’s been going strong for almost nine years. The first year was just a proof of concept. I wasn’t sure how many people would participate, so I funded it out of my own pocket, offering gift cards and bragging rights to attract participants. Social media played a huge role, and by the second year, I was able to secure sponsorships from brands, artists, and organizations. They donated money, art, and products, which helped the tournament grow.

By the third year, we raised funds for a local charity supporting a community member battling breast cancer. People donated money, and we entered their names into a raffle. It went really well, and we’ve kept building on that.

Now, I’m in talks with conservation organizations about incorporating them into the tournament. I can’t reveal too much yet, but it’s in the works and about a year out.

Beyond the tournament, one of my favorite things has been promoting catch-and-release. Anglers send in photos of fish they’ve caught more than once, and thanks to social media, we can track these unique spot patterns. It’s amazing to see how often the same fish is caught again and again.

One cool feature we do is called Caught Twice Tuesday, where we highlight fish that have been caught multiple times. One story that stands out is the “Mayor of Tampa Bay”—a redfish with a leopard spot pattern. I posted about it, and suddenly, people were reaching out, saying they had caught that same fish. Over seven months, I tracked 13 different anglers who had caught that fish. It’s a powerful testament to the success of catch-and-release and the economic impact a healthy fishery can have on the community.

That’s incredible. I also heard about your “alphabet” story. Can you tell me more about that? 

Yeah, the alphabet collection is one of the coolest and most unexpected things to come from the Drum Spots page. It all started back in 2015, around the same time I launched the account. I began to notice that some redfish had spots that resembled letters or numbers. It wasn’t something I’d seen much before, but as I kept an eye out for them, I realized it was more common than I initially thought.

I saw an “E” and the number “2” on a couple of fish that I caught myself, and started to see more on Instagram. I thought, “Hey, what if we could collect the entire alphabet and every number from 0 to 9?” It seemed like a fun challenge, but I wasn’t sure if it would even be possible. People started sending in photos, and surely, the collection grew.

By 2020, just five years after starting, we had the full alphabet from A to Z, and every number from 0 to 9. That blew my mind. What’s even more incredible is that there’s only one other documented instance of an entire alphabet naturally occurring in wildlife—and that’s in the wings of butterflies. Both redfish and butterflies use “false eyes” to confuse predators, which is where these unique markings come from. It’s such a fascinating phenomenon to see it in both species. You’ll even find other shapes, like hearts or smiley faces, on both redfish and butterfly wings.

Which letters and numbers were the most elusive? Were there any that took forever to track down?

Oh yeah, definitely! Some letters and numbers were much harder to come by than others. The trickiest letters to find were K, X, and Q. I only have a couple of examples of Q’s, and X was the last letter we found. There were moments when I thought, “We might never complete this collection.” But finally, someone caught a fish with an X-shaped spot. For the numbers, 8 and 5 were tough too. Now, we’ve got the whole set, which is an amazing thing to be able to say.

Are these unique spots coming from all over?

We’re getting submissions from all over the place. The majority come from the typical redfish range—from Texas along the Gulf Coast and up to Maryland. But what’s really cool is that we’ve received photos from as far north as New York! There’s one crazy story about a guy who caught a redfish right in front of the Statue of Liberty. 

What blew my mind even more was when I started getting submissions from overseas—specifically Hong Kong. I know it sounds wild, but redfish have actually made their way there. I connected with a cool guy who lives in Hong Kong, and he sent in photos of himself holding a redfish with the city’s urban skyline in the background. At first, I didn’t understand how that was even possible, but he explained it to me.

Redfish are highly sought after as a market fish for their meat, so they’re farmed in places like China and Hong Kong. The Buddhist population there buys them from live fish markets and releases them into the ocean for good karma. Over time, this has led to an invasive population of redfish in Hong Kong’s waters. Since we originally connected, this guy has recently taken up the challenge of catching them on a fly rod. He recently sent me a photo of his first redfish caught on a fly in Hong Kong. It’s so interesting to see the spread and resilience of these fish and the effects on their global populations from human involvement. 

Follow @drumspots on Instagram here, and check out the Drum Spots website here to see hundreds of unique fish, hear wild stories, and stay up to date on tournaments and other ways that you can join the Drum Spots community.