i’ve had them prepared multiple times with other fish. you could always tell which ones were which. the drum tasted like dirt.
generally you can deep fry a shoe and it will have some flavor to it. the best time i had it was when it was fresh out of the river and the guy scored it so there was probably 3x the batter on it than a normal fillet. it took away from the grimy flavor.
2 times i’ve at them, they’ve been a supposed “blind taste test” where the guy swore i wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.