Fishing Friday: Mighty Sheepshead Dare Anglers to Catch Them
By: John N. Felsher
“Something keeps nibbling,” he said. “I can barely feel it, but it keeps taking my shrimp. It must be really tiny.”
“It may be much bigger than you think,” I replied. With the tide falling hard, small crabs drifted along with the flow. I scooped several with a net.
“Try this,” I suggested, hooking a crab about the size of a quarter on a jighead. “Don’t cast it. Just flip it a few feet upstream and let the tide push it back under the dock. Keep it next to the pilings. When you feel a little weight, set the hook.”
Moments later, the angler’s rod bend almost to the breaking point as he struggled with a powerful fish.
“It feels like I’m hooked to an anvil and it’s stuck in the mud,” he shouted.
Steven Felsher shows off a sheepshead he caught while fishing Lake Pontchartrain near Slidell, La. Lake Pontchartrain produced the world-record sheepshead, a 21.25-pounder (Photo by John N. Felsher)
Sheepshead provide incredible action on light tackle. Built for power, not speed, they don’t slash and flash like speckled trout or run like rampaging redfish. Instead, they hunker down amid entangling structures. Relying upon their brute strength, sheepshead dare anyone to budge them. Frequently, they rub lines against barnacles or other sharp objects to break free.
Sheepshead range from Nova Scotia to Brazil and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. They hang around hard structures festooned with barnacles like pilings, wrecks, reefs and jetties. The pugnacious buck-toothed reef rulers use their incisor teeth to snip barnacles off the structures.
“Sheepshead love barnacles and crustaceans like crabs and shrimp,” advised Marie Head, an Alabama Marine Resources Division biologist. “Wherever they can find some pilings or rocks with barnacles, anglers should find sheepshead.”
With muscular jaws and strong teeth, sheepshead can easily crush oyster, clam and crab shells. Most people fish for them with live shrimp or other natural baits. They will slurp a fresh dead shrimp and infrequently grab live minnows or cut fish, but favor crustaceans.
Sheepshead come with incredible dental equipment used for crushing barnacles and nibbling shrimp, crabs and other morsels. Despite their strength, jaws and impressive dental equipment, even the largest sheepshead characteristically nibble baits. (Photo by John N. Felsher)
“When I’m fishing for sheepshead, I prefer live bait,” commented Patric Garmeson with Ugly Fishing Charters (www.uglyfishing.com) who set the Alabama state record at 13 pounds, 14 ounces. “Practically everything that swims will eat a live shrimp, but if I’m specifically targeting sheepshead, I’ll use a small crab like a hermit crab or a fiddler. Sometimes, we catch sheepshead on baitfish, but most often, a crustacean is the way to go.”
A small live blue crab makes an excellent bait. Hook a crab through the back of its shell by its rounded swimming fin. Fish it on a free line or with the tiniest weight close to structure. Anglers can break larger crabs in half and cut each half into two or three succulent pieces.
Capt. Robert Brodie of Team Brodie Charters shows off a sheepshead he caught near Biloxi, Miss. Biloxi Bay offers some of the best sheepshead fishing in the nation. (Photo by John N. Felsher)
“Crabs make outstanding sheepshead baits,” recommended Robert Brodie with Team Brodie Charters ( teambrodiecharters.com) in Biloxi, MS. “Fiddler crabs are another treat. That’s like candy to a sheepshead.”
Despite their strength, jaws and impressive dental equipment, even the largest sheepshead characteristically nibble baits. More accustomed to crunching sedentary barnacles, they don’t chase prey. Sheepshead gingerly examine morsel before tasting them. The piscatorial pirates use those sharp incisors to deftly strip baits from any rig. Highly challenging to catch, sheepshead frustratingly snip meat without touching steel.
Anglers might not even detect subtle strikes. Perhaps the line just feels heavy as if snagged on something. Catching sheepshead almost requires anticipating a strike by instinct. Old-timers used to quip, “Set the hook before a sheepshead bites!”
“Despite the strength of their teeth and jaws, sheepshead are persnickety, careful eaters and difficult to hook for novices,” explained Dr. Bob Shipp, (bobshipp.com) a noted marine biologist and author of Dr. Bob Shipp’s Guide to Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. “Some anglers have acquired a touch for sheepshead. They are able to land dozens while frustrated beginners retrieve their empty hooks time and time again.”
Although sheepshead prefer natural baits, they occasionally hit artificials, particularly shrimp or crab imitations. Lures made with natural food, like Berkley Gulp! typically fool more sheepshead than other artificials.
“I’ve caught many sheepshead with a plastic shrimp on the smallest jighead I can cast,” Head described. “People just need to know how to work the jig. A Vudu shrimp is bad to the bone for catching fish. Vudu shrimp look and move like live shrimp.”
When fishing bridge or dock pilings, petroleum platforms and other vertical barnacle-encrusted structures, pull in as close as possible. Tie up rather than anchor if feasible. Vertically drop live shrimp, crabs or other temptations next to the pilings. Sheepshead hold tight to structure, but commonly rise and descend in the water. Lower the bait slowly and pause periodically to find fish.
Capt. Kenny Kreeger of Lake Pontchartrain Charters shows off a sheepshead he caught while fishing by the Interstate 10 Twin Spans crossing Lake Pontchartrain near Slidell, La. Sheepshead commonly congregate around bridge pilings and other hard structures where they eat the barnacles. Lake Pontchartrain produced the world record sheepshead, a 21.25-pounder. (Photo by John N. Felsher)
“When I’m fishing specifically for sheepshead, I use a Carolina rig with a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce weight and an 18-inch, 30-pound leader,” advised Kenny Kreeger with Lake Pontchartrain Charters (www.lakepontchartraincharters.com) in Slidell, LA. “I tip it with a live shrimp and fish around hard structures. I put the bait as close to the structure as I possibly can.”
Around vertical pilings, anglers frequently spot sheepshead hovering near the surface munching on barnacles. When big sheepshead rise, fly fishermen can sight-cast feathery temptations to them.
“Fishing for sheepshead with fly tackle is a lot of fun,” Brodie stated. “When we see a sheepshead swimming around a piling, we throw the fly out and let it drift down very slowly. A small shrimp- or crab-pattern fly with a little gold coloring works very well. In clear water, it’s fun to watch a big sheepshead come up and take a fly.”
Anglers without boats regularly catch giant fish off seawalls, docks, public piers and other places. A bank fisherman caught the world record, a 21.25-pounder, off the concrete seawall at Lake Pontchartrain within the New Orleans city limits. Fish cleaning stations make superb places to fish. Anglers cleaning their catches toss scraps into the water. Free protein attracts crabs, shrimp and other creatures that sheepshead eat.
Fishing for sheepshead requires considerable patience, but these pugnacious powerhouses provide daunting action. Since they fight so hard and readily eat most baits, sheepshead make a perfect species for young or novice anglers to catch.
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