These fish like to really hug the pilings, you see. Add the fillets and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side till it turns brown and flaky. rod to be strong enough to pull them away from bridge pilings and other structure before they have a chance to break you off. If you prefer nice filets to fish nuggets, you’ll need to pay attention to the large rib cage close to the head. YES! I hate fishing. The main technique is to drop your bait to the desired depth, and then keep tension on the line. The easy way to tell the two apart is by the mouth, sheepshead have teeth that look like molars and black drum have gums with very rough sandpaper and no real teeth. Below are some widely known sheepshead haunts to give you an idea what to look for in your area. The main technique is to drop your bait to the desired depth, and then keep tension on the line. Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier (Florida Panhandle), Navarre Beach Fishing Pier (Florida Panhandle). It is easy to confuse the sheepshead with black drum as both have the Black and White bars. I have never personally used hermit crabs as bait, but I understand that they are a great bait to use to catch sheepshead. Bridges are one of the best places to find concentrations of sizable sheepshead. Fish your live shrimp on a single long-shank hook about three feet under the water under a large round fishing float. Click to see the video tutorial. Sheepies congregate around pilings on the bottom. Also, do yourself a favor and carefully pull those lips back, and check out the gnarley teeth, as they are truly something to behold. Reel selection is not as important with sheepshead fishing. If you feel several taps and then try to set the hook, it’s usually too late. Don’t let that frustrate you, since that’s just part of it when you go after “Convicts”, as they are master thieves. Will they take the Gulp! So, let’s try to keep it that way, by only taking as much as we need. braided line. But, don’t go too strong or you miss out on some of the sporting fun. One of the best is to simply crush barnacles off any bridge pilings you may be fishing beside. lures sitting in a scent tub. If you’re looking for sheepshead they can be found inshore, in coastal creeks, rivers, bays, and lagoons. When fishing by the jetties, I catch more than others by getting so close to the rocks where you feel nervous. After Luke and I posted the “Bowfishing For Sheepshead” video, one of our members named Daniel Flinn reached out saying he’s had an unbelievable month catching sheepshead with rod and reel. Download your free copy of the Sheepshead Cheat Sheet here now. Before we can even get to how to catch sheepshead, we first must determine where to find them. When fishing a Jetty from shore, a good tactic is to cast up-current and allow your bait to drift and fall over the submerged rocks. a dock) has actually been there. In fact, at times, they can be quite finicky about which baits they will take. With the aid of these tiny, strong mouths, sheepshead have mastered the art of stealing your bait. Because there are lots of oysters about, I don’t like to cast out where I can get snagged, so I just drop straight down from my boat. Any submerged and hidden structures, out of reach from land, are going to be great places to target for boat anglers. Sign up for FREE to receive the latest saltwater fishing videos, tutorials, product reviews, and fishing product discounts! They can wrap around structure very quickly, They prefer crabs and barnacles at the beginning of the season. There are many piers all along the gulf coast that hold great numbers of Sheepshead. Sheepshead. It’s the time of year that we catch huge – ten pounders – sheepshead on light tackle. Barnacles on the other hand do not have size limits or specified bag limits, which means that you can harvest up to 100 pounds per person per day with a recreational saltwater fishing license and you can use them to chum sheepshead. Give him just a split second to ensure the fish has it in his mouth. Usually, it takes only one tap, or the line slowly moving to signal fish on. Barnacles on the other hand do not have size limits or specified bag limits, which means that you can harvest up to 100 pounds per person per day with a recreational saltwater fishing license and you can use them to chum sheepshead. Sheepshead are found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia south through the Gulf of Mexico. I hope this can be of help to the sheepshead fisherman. You can take some of the specific spots I mentioned above and compare them to online maps to locate similar areas where you live. I have always struggled cleaning these fish. You also do not want a light wire hook, as sheepshead can literally bite them in half. Basic bottom fishing tackle is all that is required for anglers … In the United States, it is common to catch them From North Carolina, South Carolina and all the way down to Florida. Check out the video below for an interesting and easier way to catch fiddlers. They don’t typically take the bait and run like many other fish do, but rather they suck the bait in and crush it, and it is because of this that you oftentimes never feel a bite. When a sheepshead first takes your bait on a vertical drop, you'll feel a little tap-tap. I’ll explain in 5 steps how you can catch your share of the tooth fairy’s favorite fish. To hook a fiddler crab, use a #1 or 1/0 bait hook and hook the crab going in from underneath on one side or the other and come out the hard shell on top. Allow the current to move the bait into the strike zone and pay close attention to the line and rod for any indication of a bit. Fiddler crabs are one of the hardiest sheepshead baits and they stay on the hook the best. Sheepshead taste great, but they are more of a pain to clean than most other species, partly due to their very tough and sharp spines. Many anglers keep a straightened hoe, shovel, or similar long handle tool in their boats to knock off small pieces to fire up the sheepshead bite. Bigger male fiddlers, which can be identified with their larger claw, are preferred over the smaller females. You can differentiate juvenile black drum from sheepshead by checking for chin barbels. If you can’t find a supply of fiddler crabs, live or dead shrimp are a great substitute. I always say the boat closest to the rocks will catch the most Sheepshead. You should break off the large claw so as to reduce the chance of a sheepshead grabbing it and stealing your bait. Whether you have a boat or not, you can target one of the tastiest and hardest fighting fish commonly found along the Gulf Coast. At certain times of the year they are plentiful along the edge of the surf. Keep your line tight and lightly check your bait with a very slight pull. Pa-POW! The Bite. Another option is to use a cork, and suspend your bait above the rocks at whichever depth you find to be most productive that day. legal information – contact me – privacy policy, but it’s not unusual for them to get over 10 pounds, with the. Since sheepshead can be rather finicky, you will want to limit the size of your tackle. Where you are most likely to catch them really depends on the season. It’s flavor even allows it to be successfully substituted for crab meat in recipes. When the water is moving, be sure to fish behind the structure in the eddies that get created. Anglers seeking sheepshead prefer a medium-stout 6 to 7-foot rod and a reel with 15 to 20 lb. Once you are past the structure,  reel in and repeat the process over and over. Now, go capture yourself some “convicts”! Great cleaning idea. Hook selection is crucial when it comes to catching these fish. You want to focus on those close to deep water access and the older the dock the better. It is more invisible to the fish, and the added abrasion resistance helps reduce cutoffs on jagged structures. The difference between the two records says a lot about how tough it is to land these fish with a rod and reel. Sheepshead are widely distributed in many types of habitat and relatively easy to locate, since they prefer structure such as pilings, seawalls, and jetties. However, if the shrimp is larger than about 1.5 inches, break it into 2 or more pieces and rig the pieces it a similar way. These are all good baits for sheepshead as well. You Rock! Thanks. Midwinter tips for catching a limit of good-eating panfish. Just remember, Google Maps and Google Earth are your friends. This is definitely not a comprehensive list, but rather a few of the options in the areas I am most familiar. It’s a fine line that must be learned. I personally prefer braid for it’s added sensitivity, but mono and flouro certainly have their merits as well. . If you use a proven cleaning technique, you won’t have any problems. On the other hand, the meat of sheepshead is delicious and has a natural taste. In December of 2014, these two brothers shocked their clients, friends, and family by quitting their 6-figure jobs to start their dream focused on helping saltwater anglers: 2. Leave the tail connected to the filet and cut at about a forty-five-degree angle, letting the blade move along the skin to keep all of the meat. Sheepshead have a small mouth so you have to use a small lure or the fish won’t bite. Rather than purchasing fiddlers,  you could instead try to catch your own, if you have the time and ambition to do so. braided line. anglerwithin.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. The old tongue in cheek saying is; in order to hook a sheepshead, you have to set the hook just before they bite. If you like this article, you might like some of my other “how to” articles:  How To Catch Pompano, How To Catch Whiting and How To Catch Spanish Mackerel. When fishing for Sheepshead I will usually start fishing at the bottom of the water column and work my way up until I start catching fish. The price of fiddlers are going to vary depending on where you buy and exactly when you buy. Additionally, many fishermen love to hunt this fish as it’s thick and has a lot of meat at the same time. 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