# Catching sheepshead from the pier????



## p&y finally (Jun 17, 2014)

Anybody have experience with catching sheepshead from the pier?
Were headed back down to PCB and I'm wanting info on catching them. In years past I always see them feeding on the posts below the piers but never have seen anybody catch or even fish for them. 
Any info is appreciated!!


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## Nicodemus (Jun 17, 2014)

Pull right before they bite when you fish for sheephead on a pier. Fiddlers or sand fleas are about as good a bait as you can get.


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## ranger374 (Jun 17, 2014)

I used to catch them on the myrtle beach peir--some BIG ones.  when the tide was out, I scraped some barnacles off the piers to use as bait.  Then rigged up a egg sinker carolina rig style with a j hook, I guess you could use a circle hook or whatever you wanted, just don't go too big on the hook.  I used trilene big game 25 lb test it think.  you might have to go larger for the leader cause they will try to wrap you around the poles.  drop the rig right down next to the pole and wait for a tap.  I used a clump of barnacles about half the size of a walnut.  If you don't get bit in about 5 min. pull up and try another pole.  If they are there they usually bit pretty quick.


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## rhbama3 (Jun 17, 2014)

Nicodemus said:


> Pull right before they bite when you fish for sheephead on a pier. Fiddlers or sand fleas are about as good a bait as you can get.



I'm not grasping how exactly you do that. Do you keep the bait shallow enough to actually watch them hit it?


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## redneck_billcollector (Jun 17, 2014)

rhbama3 said:


> I'm not grasping how exactly you do that. Do you keep the bait shallow enough to actually watch them hit it?



LOL, that is an old cracker saying when fishing for sheepshead....gotta set the hook before they bite.

An old trick is to get you a long pole (don't know if you could get one long enough for there though) and scrape the oysters/barnacales off the piling and that will start them on a feeding frenzy...easier to hook then.  When I was a kid we would do that, used a big cane pole instead of a rod and reel, works better, long pole short line, like an old bass splatter pole.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Jun 17, 2014)

rhbama3 said:


> I'm not grasping how exactly you do that. Do you keep the bait shallow enough to actually watch them hit it?



I believe he means that sheepshead are notoriously difficult to hook.  



			
				ranger374 said:
			
		

> I used to catch them on the myrtle beach peir--some BIG ones. when the tide was out, I scraped some barnacles off the piers to use as bait. Then rigged up a egg sinker carolina rig style with a j hook, I guess you could use a circle hook or whatever you wanted, just don't go too big on the hook. I used trilene big game 25 lb test it think. you might have to go larger for the leader cause they will try to wrap you around the poles. drop the rig right down next to the pole and wait for a tap. I used a clump of barnacles about half the size of a walnut. If you don't get bit in about 5 min. pull up and try another pole. If they are there they usually bit pretty quick.



This is what I've seen work.  Barnacles are sheepshead crack.


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## ghadarits (Jun 18, 2014)

"Barnacles are sheepshead crack". X1,000. If you want to catch them its best to see them bite but if you can't see them I hope you have a sensitive rod so you can feel the bites. As soon as you feel the bite set the hook fast and I mean fast or they will be gone along with your bait.

I've never used braid when fishing for them but would think it would work well with a floro leader so you can feel the bite better.


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## Nicodemus (Jun 18, 2014)

I had an Uncle who tried to teach me how to catch sheephead off the Flagler Beach pier. This was in the mid 1960s and he was an old hand at catchin` those bandits. He used a Calcutta rod that he made himself and a Penn 209, and preferred fiddlers or sandfleas for bait. He drop down beside a piling and point that rod straight down, with his finger on the line and wait. As he told me, the fish bumps the bait then crushes it. If you strike on the bump, you`ll miss it. When you feel the bump, wait just a second then strike. He could pile sheephead up like cordwood. All those years I spent after them, my total was 7 taken from a pier. And they were all pure luck.

Now off jetties and such, they bite like normal fish and I can catch em. Off a pier, I don`t waste my time any more.


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## Wild Turkey (Jun 18, 2014)

put your weight below the hook. it helps hooking them with the line tight instead of flopping around below the weight.


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## Bilge Rat LT 20 (Jun 18, 2014)

Weight below the hook.
Drop the line down beside the piling till te weight hits bottom then point the rod down and tighten the line.

Watch the line, you will see it move away from the piling then it will move back. As it moves back you will feel the thump, you missed him!!!

Set the hook when the line moves before you feel the thump.

They grab the bait, crush it, suck in the good stuff and spit out the shells and hook as they swim off.
The thump is when they spit out the shells/hook.


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## grouper throat (Jun 18, 2014)

Fiddlers and a sensitive rod tip. You have to tight line them preferrably up and down as much as possible to stand a chance on our reefs. They are fun to catch though. Keeping a finger on the line is probably the best way to actually feel the bite.


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## p&y finally (Jun 18, 2014)

Thanks for the info!
I'll give them a shot.
Can fiddler crabs or sand fleas be bought at the bait shops?


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