Well here it is, a write up on sheepshead fishing, hopefully its semi helpful. I cant give you all my secrets but i can give you some advice on how to catch these bait thieves. Boy if i had had a dollar for everytime i had someone ask me "how do you feel the bite"? "do you really have to set the hook half a second before they bite"? ECT ECT. I have more then a little experience with these convicts, and i will tell you its in the rod, the line, and most importantly the fishermen. if you have A.D.D, get frustrated to easy, or just cant concentrate this probably is the fish for you to target, and YES you really do have to set the hook a half second before they bite. most of the time you wont feel much of anything and they bite different every time.
Lets start of with bait choices, fiddler crabs, barnacles, sand fleas, live shrimp, and clam will all work. bait choice depends all on what they want to eat that day. I have had days i couldn't catch them on a crab, and they only thing they would eat was barnacles, and i have had days the only thing they would eat is barnacles, there has been days i couldn't catch them on any of the above to, everyday is different. so i cant tell you what bait to take when you go i would take a some different choices for them.
Tackle, rods, reels, line. hooks. you are gonna need a sensitive but stiff rod with some backbone. being a bass fishermen i use alot of bass tackle when im fishing convicts. rods between 6'6" and 7'6". when it comes to making the choice of buying a rod keep in mind. you get what you pay for. cheaper rods tend to be to stiff and not sensitive enough or sensitive but to flimsy to get a good hook set on the fish. you don't need to break bank but not just any rod will work for these fish. i prefer spinning rods and reels when sheepshead fishing but thats a personally choice, if i use a bait cast reel for sheepshead it will be a left handed model. Ok fishing line this plays a big role. mono is my last choice but i will use it when the waters dirty, i prefer 12 to 20 pound fluorocarbon depend on water clarity. I know alot of guys that swear by braided line like power pro or spider wire but im not a huge fan when it comes to sheepshead fishing. hooks your going to need a wide gap kahle hook or live bait hook, i get special hooks made and unless you know me you probably wont ever get a hook like it. as far as weight i use a split shot and that's it weight depends on the current. i clip the shot directly onto the line and tie a hook 8 inches bellow it. that's it its a simple rig. OK that covers that.
structure. where to fish, where to fish, where to fish, that's easy if there isnt hard structure there isn't sheepshead. You cant catch these things in open water simple as that, these fish are inshore 9 months out of the year but in the dead of winter you can catch them on near shore and offshore wrecks. From my experiences at least here in south Carolina you catch your biggest inshore fish from June to October. These fish are going to hug the structure whatever it may be your fishing, you can not fish to close to it, if your not getting hung up and losing rigs your fishing wrong.
There it is a write up on sheepshead. hopefully i covered most the basics, and answered most of the questions you would have to ask. Not everyone is blessed enough to be able to catch these fish, you have to really want to in order to do it. After reading this if you decide to give it a shot. for the first time, i don't recommend taking your kids with you until you get the hang of it, because i can promise you, your going to say some words that even you didn't know existed. i cant tell you how to feel the bite, when to set the hook, because its different every time. but keep your drag set because once you hook him or her up its going to go every way but to you!
