"When fishing for sheepshead, we use small hooks and bait them with small crabs or live shrimp. "We catch many sheepshead around the docks, concrete walls and jetties," says Charles Newton of Redfish Charters ( ) in Rockport, Texas. Sheepshead usually stay near hard cover, but they’ll also roam along sandy beaches to munch mole crabs, also known as sand fleas. In Florida, they swim among the mangrove roots. Therefore, they typically hang around wrecks, reefs, docks, bridges, jetties and similar hard structures. Sheepshead love to snip barnacles off pilings, rocks, shells and other objects with their incisor teeth. Sometimes we catch sheepshead on baitfish, but most of the time a crustacean is the way to go." If I’m specifically targeting sheepshead, I’ll use a small crab like a hermit crab or a fiddler. "When I’m fishing for sheepshead, I prefer live bait. "Sheepshead get overlooked by many people, but these strong, scrappy fighters are a heck of a lot of fun to catch," says Patric Garmeson with Ugly Fishing Charters ( ) in Mobile, Ala. They also eat shrimp, minnows, clams, squid, cut bait and other morsels.Ī sheepshead’s black and white stripes allow it to blend into the pilings where it likes to feed. With powerful jaws and strong teeth, sheepshead can easily crush shells of small marine animals, including barnacles, small stone crabs and fiddler crabs. The pugnacious, buck-toothed reef rulers feature alternating black and white stripes that mimic the pilings where they like to feed. However, the world record weighed 21 1/4 pounds and was caught off the concrete seawall on Lake Pontchartrain within the city limits of New Orleans (read more below). Most sheepshead run in the 2- to 6-pound range. Sheepshead frequent continental coastal waters from Nova Scotia through the Gulf of Mexico with the greatest abundance probably in southwest Florida." "For this reason, it is sometimes passed over in favor of other food fish. Bob Shipp’s Guide to Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Bob Shipp, a noted marine biologist and author of Dr. ”The fine, white flesh and mild flavor of sheepshead makes it great table fare, but their heavy scales and remarkably strong fin spines make sheepshead difficult to clean or fillet," says Dr. They also give anglers great opportunities to catch large fish without spending a fortune or even stepping onto a boat. Tough to clean and widely loathed for their expert bait-stealing skills, sheepshead don’t rank high on most anglers’ lists of "desirable" fish, but the incredibly powerful and abundant reel-busters can provide outstanding sport on light tackle.
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