![]() Live fiddler crabs are widely recognized as the optimal bait for sheepshead, and many baitshops in sheepshead country carry these crabs. This keeps a lively bait working for you until a sheepshead finds it. The Jail Bait Reef Jig ( ), in 1/2- or 3/4-ounce sizes with a double hook, includes small rubber bands that allow you to secure a live fiddler crab to the back of the jig. Dan Schafer, in sizes from 1/4 to 3 ounces, is equipped with a 2X-strong, short-shank hook ideal for holding a crab and hooking sheepshead. The Bottom Sweeper Jig ( ) designed by sheepshead expert Capt. Jigs with stout, short-shank hooks in size 1/0 to 2/0 are a good choice. ![]() Believe it or not, sheepshead can actually bite through the light wire hooks sometimes used for inshore trout fishing.Īnother popular alternative is to use a bare jig, ranging from 1/4 ounce for structure in 8 to 10 feet of water and moderate tidal flow up to 3 ounces for depths to 40 feet and high current flow. Size 1/0 to 3/0 short-shank, 2X-strong hooks are preferred. This puts you in direct touch with the hook when there’s a bite-the fish doesn’t have to move the weight to alert you that there’s something going on below. Most experts recommend using a dropper loop to tie on the hook, with the weight on the bitter end of the leader. Use 20-pound-test mono leader with 15-pound braid, 30-pound-test mono with the 30-pound braid. Sometimes they swim up and suck in the bait from below, slacking the line without any indication of a "bite." This leads to the old joke that you must set the hook just before the bite to catch them, but veteran sheepshead anglers rarely miss a fish because they rig right and know what to keep an eye out for.īraided line in 15-pound-test is good for most sheepshead, though in areas where you may catch larger sheepshead and maybe bull reds, too like around some of Louisiana’s inshore rigs, 30-pound braid will give you a better chance around the structure. Sheepshead are known as bait stealers because they often nip the bait off with their sharp teeth rather than inhaling it whole. In moderate winds or tide flows, a trolling motor with a GPS anchor can keep you within range at just the right angle. A note of caution: If you plan on tying to pilings, take along plenty of fenders to protect the finish of your boat. Watch for fish roaming just a few feet under the surface, or use forward-looking or side-scanning sonar should your boat be equipped with one or both of these electronic marvels.Īnywhere you see fish, position via anchor well uptide and let the stern of the boat ease back to within casting range of the structures. The trick in locating sheepshead is to run to a number of likely spots-a long row of barnacled bridge pilings, for example. Jetties, piers, bridge pilings, oil structures, rocks and wrecks all attract sheepshead. ![]() To find them, you simply need to locate barnacles, oysters, crabs or mussels on any sort of hard vertical structure in coastal rivers, bays and bayous. Sheepshead are named for their sheep-like teeth, evolved for crunching up crabs and shellfish of all kinds, and they’re most often found where these foods are plentiful. These fish are tasty and usually not too difficult to fool, though it can take some know-how to find and catch them.Īnd because they are abundant, limits are liberal compared to more targeted species-up to 25 a day in most Louisiana parishes 15 in Mississippi and Georgia 10 in Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina 8 in Florida and 5 in Texas. Most of the trout and redfish have either moved deep or have already been caught out of the coastal rivers, canals and potholes where they seek refuge from the cold.įortunately, loads of sheepshead move inshore in late winter and early spring to spawn on structure. Sheepshead seem like the only inshore game in town around the Southeast through late winter.
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