# How to catch Sheephead



## FordHunter (Feb 17, 2010)

New to fishing on the coast and was wondering how and where to try to catch some sheephead


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## dougefresh (Feb 17, 2010)

Not real sure about Ga coast. Growing up in Fl we use to catch them around the pylons of piers and docks. We would use small hooks, sand fleas, or tube worms. You could watch them feed on the pylons and sight fish for them. If you are able to keep this at the top of thread list you will get some good info. Good luck.


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## Nautical Son (Feb 17, 2010)

Ford, sheepies can be very difficult to catch for some folks and others just seem to have a knack for it, since their mouths are full of teeth they can come up to your bait and just nibble all the good stuff off and you don't even feel it.

Right now they are stacked up on the nearshore reefs and should be relatively easy to catch assuming you can get the bait past the BSB's , fiddler crabs are gonna be the bait of choice for most folks and the way I rig mine is with a weight below the hook, and then pull off one leg of the fiddler and insert the hook (I use kahle #1 or 2) where the leg dettached from.

Drop him down fast to the bottom and then one round up, with the rod tip at the water I start a slow vertical jiogging motion so as to feel any resistance against the line, if I feel any I keep the upward pessure just slightly and if it is a sheepie the hook tends to go to the side of his mouth away from the teeth.

Some folks will say you have to set the hook before they bite and thatey would be correct as well.....

Good luck and if you want to take a ride with someone who knows a little about catching them PM sentrysam, Wayne is getting pretty good at catching those little (and big) convicts...


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## fishinknots (Feb 18, 2010)

I do carolina rig, #2 hook, fiddler crabs. Drop it to the bottom and lift it up slowly and drop it back down again. what weight to use depends on how strong the tide is. I just set the hook like as soon as I feel something. A lot of times it will be false alarm.....


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## hevishot (Feb 18, 2010)

do as mentioned above but take a boat paddle, garden rake or flat shovel and scrape the heck out of the barnicles on the pilings you are fishing...you will triple your catch if you "chum" them like this...best bait is fiddlers for sure...catch em and put them in a cricket box.


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## sleepindawg (Feb 18, 2010)

*tell me more...*



TGattis said:


> Ford, sheepies can be very difficult to catch for some folks and others just seem to have a knack for it, since their mouths are full of teeth they can come up to your bait and just nibble all the good stuff off and you don't even feel it.
> 
> Right now they are stacked up on the nearshore reefs and should be relatively easy to catch assuming you can get the bait past the BSB's , fiddler crabs are gonna be the bait of choice for most folks and the way I rig mine is with a weight below the hook, and then pull off one leg of the fiddler and insert the hook (I use kahle #1 or 2) where the leg dettached from.
> 
> ...


TGat I'm not sure what you mean by "weight below the hook."  I've always just rigged with a small split shot crimped just below a slip sinker.  Also do you mean you pinch off a leg or a claw?  Do you leave any of the hookpoint exposed or not?  Tell me more about your method.  I don't get to fish for 'em often and need some new ideas for sure.


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## Nautical Son (Feb 18, 2010)

What I mean is....

If I am fishing at the nearshore reefs, I will put a 2 ounce weight on the line attached with a 3 way swivel or dropper knot, then about 8 or 10" above the weight I attach the hook...it allows my line to be tight all the time and using braided line I can feel if the sheepie is nibling on the fiddler and assert a little tension to make him start to swim away with the bait, this causes the hook to get caught in the side of this mouth away from his teeth.


On the fiddler, I pull off one of his legs in the middle usually, and insert the hook, with the tip of the hook buried in the crab, it doesn't kill them instantly.

If I am fishing around the dock pilings, I will sometimes do as Hevi, said and scrape the pile with something to "chum" them in, it works really good on a slow incoming tide...

I almost always use a cane pole rigged with braid and always use the super slow vertical jigging method, right beside the pile on the opposite side the current is coming from whether it is incoming or outgoing tide...on a rare occasion when the water is really clear you can see the sheepies working the barnacles on the piles, and depending on the noise level and how good your ears are you may even be able to discern the sheepies actually scraping their teeth on the shells as they feed....I have heard it a couple of times when everything was reallllllllllly quiet...


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## PaulD (Feb 18, 2010)

fishinknots said:


> I do carolina rig, #2 hook, fiddler crabs. Drop it to the bottom and lift it up slowly and drop it back down again. what weight to use depends on how strong the tide is. I just set the hook like as soon as I feel something. A lot of times it will be false alarm.....




Yep, the more structure the better. Reefs, pilings, wrecks, tree tops. Nastier the better.


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## sentrysam (Feb 18, 2010)

*my preferance*

Carolina rig with at least a 2 oz sinker,i like trolling sinkers best but egg sinkers are just fine.Some folks use a longer leader than myself,i like bout 12 " ,no more ,sometime a little less if i break off a couple of times.I don't ever keep the hook still in the water ,up and down ,around in circles,sideways,this way you can feel when the fiddler stops ,thats the sign that something is down there ,may be structure ,may be fish,in any case ,i then pull up slowly,if its a fish ,you'll know it ,set the hook then...Important thing to notice here is SLOW MOVEMENT TILL HE'S HOOKED.Don't catch'em all ,leave a few fer seed,,tight lines....ss


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## PaulD (Feb 18, 2010)

sentrysam said:


> ].Don't catch'em all ,leave a few fer seed



 That always happens!


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## wharfrat (Feb 18, 2010)

I mostly just donate bait to them things. Usually I drop the bait down and commence to settin' the hook. I then reel in and put another fiddler on. sometimes a nice 'head will come up. i do have a buddy whos pretty decent at catchin them and he uses a jighead when the current will allow or a knocker rig. the knocker is a rig with the egg sinker sittin right on top of the hook. he ties straight to braid with no leader.


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## bouymarker (Feb 18, 2010)

#8 or #6 hook. purple back fiddlers, clams, oysters. 12" of fishing line for leader going into a swivel where on the rod side of the swivel a 1/2oz to 1oz egg sinker. 
If you feel the bite, its too late. I will count to 30 maybe sometimes before I check the line. slack tide is the best, to feel them. I have accidently caught a 11lb one using shrimp on this setup. matter a fact I caught a bunch that day on dead shrimp and they werent playing with it. The next day, not a bite from the same area.


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## thar31321 (Feb 18, 2010)

It takes a while to figure out the right method that fits you. Patience is the best advise anybody can give you. Most of the time by the first bump, your fiddler is gone. I have heard of people using canned oysters and letting the sun bake them a little and then fish them. We have never tried that way.


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## fishinknots (Feb 18, 2010)

wharfrat said:


> I mostly just donate bait to them things. Usually I drop the bait down and commence to settin' the hook. I then reel in and put another fiddler on. sometimes a nice 'head will come up. i do have a buddy whos pretty decent at catchin them and he uses a jighead when the current will allow or a knocker rig. the knocker is a rig with the egg sinker sittin right on top of the hook. he ties straight to braid with no leader.


Right, I have seen some using shrimp-tipped jighead. They call them "shrimp-appetizer". Produces well.....


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## sentrysam (Feb 19, 2010)

*gulf coast*

Right, I have seen some using shrimp-tipped jighead. They call them "shrimp-appetizer". Produces well..... 

On the Lousiana coast they have great luck with skrimps,(dead) My friends down there never use Fidds.Seems to be just the oppisite on the Jawja coast,I have caught them on live skrimps though and they bite them a lot different ,like haulin butt instead of just suckin the guts outa a fidd.I found this kinda unique about different ways of catchin the same fish we have here with a different presentation that normally wont work in our water....The thing about fishin,for any species,if what you're usein dont work,try a different method/bait/presentation..thats why it's called fishin and not catchin.....ss


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## bouymarker (Feb 19, 2010)

bouymarker said:


> #8 or #6 hook. purple back fiddlers, clams, oysters. 12" of fishing line for leader going into a swivel where on the rod side of the swivel a 1/2oz to 1oz egg sinker.
> If you feel the bite, its too late. I will count to 30 maybe sometimes before I check the line. slack tide is the best, to feel them. I have accidently caught a 11lb one using shrimp on this setup. matter a fact I caught a bunch that day on dead shrimp and they werent playing with it. The next day, not a bite from the same area.


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## wharfrat (Feb 19, 2010)

Wow! Thats alot of fileting there! nice catch bmark!


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## fishinknots (Feb 19, 2010)

No wonder I could not catch any last time......


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## Gaswamp (Feb 20, 2010)

what months are the best for catching sheepshead inshore around piers and jettys?


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## bouymarker (Feb 20, 2010)

i beleive that they are always around, it may drop off a lil' this time of year but reports have been great.


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## fishinknots (Feb 20, 2010)

What's the limit per person per day? 15?


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## squirrelhunter912 (Feb 20, 2010)

fiddler crabs around pylons


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## Robert 31320 (Feb 23, 2010)

Check your hook regularly.  If you even think the point is dull or bent, CHANGE IT IMMEDIATELY!


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## Juan De (Feb 25, 2010)

man ya'll got me ready to go


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## Gaswamp (Feb 25, 2010)

Gaswamp said:


> what months are the best for catching sheepshead inshore around piers and jettys?



what months are best for inshore around piers or jettys?


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## kyhunter (Mar 3, 2010)

Tie up to a pier on a bridge and chum with some oysters then drop a small hook at the same rate as the chum watch you line a set the hook when the line tightens.  I think Feb and march are the best times to do this.  Good Luck


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## fishinknots (Mar 16, 2010)

Gaswamp said:


> what months are best for inshore around piers or jettys?


I was told the sheepies are always around. Since I live in the city, I can't go every month so I personally don't know. 

I have seen people catch them during summer, Aug - Sept. from fishing pier and also Nov - Jan from fishing bridge. Seems like they are around, but it still depends on weather, water temp......


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## grouper throat (Mar 18, 2010)

We catch them on nearshore reefs. Carolina rigs, 1 ounce egg sinker, 3/0 hook, and fiddlers or frozen shrimp. I can feel them bite easily but sometimes it takes an 'old salt' to teach you, which is how I learned. I've never fished for them any other way. Back when I gigged alot at night we would get some really big sheeps too. They were so big you had to break out the 'pitchfork' gig LOL


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## kingfish (Mar 18, 2010)

I'll let you guys in on a accidental discovery that might help you catch a monster sheepshead.  A buddy and I were fishing for reds in the St. Johns River around mayport last year.  We were fishing with blue crabs cut in half around the docks at night.  We got a 3 tap, monster hit on one of the rods.  Long story short, a 10 lb sheepie was in the bottom of the net.  We did this several more times on additional trips all in the 6-10 lb range.  Moral of the story is you might want to soak a half a crab while you are jigging fiddlers !!


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## Tyson (Mar 19, 2010)

Man, the people I've always fished with in LA always toss sheepshead back...we'd move on once they started outnumbering our redfish catch.  Treated 'em just like hardheads.


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## fishinknots (Mar 19, 2010)

Tyson said:


> Man, the people I've always fished with in LA always toss sheepshead back...we'd move on once they started outnumbering our redfish catch.  Treated 'em just like hardheads.


What did you catch them with?


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## Gaswamp (Mar 20, 2010)

what kind of poles do most of yall use for sheeps


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