By Capt. Mike Smith, Fish Your Ass Off Charters
Sheepshead are one of those fish that seem like they are everywhere in Florida. That is because they actually are everywhere in Florida. You can catch them 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico when they are spawning. You can catch them in the grass flats; around mangrove roots; around oyster bars; around dock and bridge pilings; off the beach; around inlets and seawalls; and even in freshwater rivers that empty into saltwater.
Sheepsheads were the fish that got me hooked on saltwater fishing when I was 5 years old. My father would take me to the mangrove mud flats to catch fiddler crabs. Once we had a bucket of crabs we would use our cane poles to catch a stringer full of sheepshead around the mangrove roots and oyster clumps. The point of this story is that anyone can catch a sheepshead, even a 5-year old.
PRO TIP: Their favorite food is a fiddler crab, but fiddlers are not readily available to most people. Get some if you can.
If you don’t have access to fiddlers, the easiest way to catch sheepshead is to target them wherever they are with a #2 sized J hook and a small piece of shrimp. You will want to use an extremely light 8 to 10 pound fluorocarbon leader because they have excellent vision and can be spooky.
Why do we use such a small hook for a big sheepshead? The reason to use such a small hook is because they are the best bait stealers in the sea. They use their human-like teeth to nip little bites of your bait until only a bare hook is left. A small hook will increase your hook up ratio.
You also have to keep a tight line or you will never feel them stealing your bait. I like to reel the line in very slowly to make them commit to a more aggressive bite. Make sure to set the hook hard.
Why do we like to catch sheepshead? We like to catch sheepshead because they are excellent fighters and have a very light and non-fishy tasting meat.
A sheepshead is very difficult to clean because they are extremely bony. But it is worth the extra work because of their delicious meat. They are an excellent candidate to fillet and release into the grease.
Where is the best place to find sheepshead? The best place to look for sheepshead is dock and bridge pilings. They are always around those pilings using their super hard teeth to crush barnacles, oysters and mussels that are living on the pilings.
All in all, sheepshead are a fun fish for the whole family to catch. You only need some frozen shrimp and a cane pole to have a blast and fill a stringer full of delicious fish.
Florida allows a generous 8 fish per person limit at the time of this article. Make sure to check your regulations in your area to stay out of trouble.
Go get ’em.
Capt. Mike Smith, owner of Fish Your Ass Off Charters, is an inshore fishing guide who has been fishing the inshore waters, oyster bars and grass flats of Florida for more than 40 years. Reach him at (561) 339-2317, email: contact@fishyourassoff.com or visit fishyourassoff.com.
