January is time for a change
If all goes as planned and we get some strong cold fronts and water temperatures drop into the low 60’s or mid 50’s, my plan is sheepshead fishing.
Sheepshead are known for their bait stealing abilities, thus their nickname, Thieves of Tampa Bay for their cunning ability to steal your bait before it even hits bottom.
Look for sheepshead around pilings, rocky areas, bridges and wrecks. Although they are here all year long, the big females come into Tampa Bay and the near shore wrecks to spawn during the peak of winter, which could start mid-December to early January. It’s all about water temperature, some years they don’t move in until mid-January.
Finding the big one is not easy as they like deep water to spawn, so rock piles, ledges, wrecks or bridges are your best bets. Not to say you can’t find them around docks or rocky shorelines, but they just prefer deeper and colder water.
Tackle changes depending where you are fishing. Around bridges and docks, I use medium spinning tackle; 15-pound test braided line and 20-pound test fluorocarbon leader with a #1 circle hook. Fish hanging around these areas tend to be smaller; most are males in the one to four pound range.
The big females on the other hand prefer the deeper waters of the bay, hanging around the ledges, wrecks and rock piles in anywhere from 12 to 30 feet of water and average in size from 4 to 12 pounds. Here I prefer to use medium tackle, a seven foot medium action rod with a larger spinning reel spooled with 20-pound test braided line and 30-pound test leader tied with a loop knot to a 1/0 hook. I use a sliding sinker rig where the sinker slides on the leader just ahead of the hook. I also use a small, glow soft bead because this keeps the sinker from hitting the knot and seems to draw the attention of the larger fish.
Kids love to fish for them since they can be seen swimming around the bridge pilings and rocky shorelines. Try using a float with a live shrimp or fiddler crab on a #1 circle hook around the concrete walls of the bridges or letting it drift over rocky areas.
Favorite baits for sheepshead include live shrimp, fiddler crabs, bloodworms and sand fleas. Fiddlers work best, but lack of time on my part to catch them drops them behind live shrimp. Since sheepshead are bait stealers, start with regular sized live shrimp and as the bite turns on switch to fresh cut medium live or dead shrimp. Remember sheepshead are schooling this time of year and all it takes is to get a few chewing and the bite is on.
Good locations include the St. Pete side of the Gandy Bridge, Picnic Island Park pier and Weedon Island pier. For boaters, the Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges plus the artificial reefs from upper Tampa Bay to Egmont Key all hold fish.
Sheepshead are a great eating fish, a little difficult to clean but well worth the time and effort. Once you try it you’re hooked for life.
Captain Sergio Atanes is a native resident of Tampa and has been fishing the water of Tampa Bay and Boca Grande for over 45 years. He is the owner and operator of S & I Charters which is one of the largest charter booking services in the West Coast of Florida with 55 professional captains on staff. Capt. Sergio Atanes can be reached at (813) 973-7132 or www.reelfishy.com