# Sheepshead



## pcolabeachbum

I've been seeing some nice ones but they wont touch my bait... I've used shrimp too. Any tips? Also, anyone know good rigs for them? the pins always end up taking my bait... Thanks. All replies much appreciated.


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## Sunshine17

usually with Sheepshead you have to hide the hook. They are very weary about hooks in the bait. and they bite very light so its hard to tell sometimes when they hit. If its slack tide or a slow moving tide I use a smaller hook with two or three split shots about 6 to 10 inches above it. If the tide is moving fast then use a half ounce to an ounce. Hope this has helped.


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## pcolabeachbum

Thank you. =]


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## bigrick

Usually peoples problem with catching them is hook size, use the smallest hook you can get away with. Also if your fishing a bridge I usually bring something to scrape the barnicles from the pillings. It works like chum. Have you tried crab claws or barnicles? Sand Fleas are the number 1 bait for targeting them usually. I also usually use a 2 hook rig. Also make sure your hooks a sharp, they have though mouths.


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## 20simmons sea skiff

*sheephead*

Ive seen people fishing with heavy cane poles around bridge pilings and hoisting them out like tuna. bessie that ran jims fish camp taught me this. use flyrods small hooks light line with short leaders, quill corks. I used bream busters with ultalight spinning reels 6 lb line short 12lb leader small sheephead hook. when this didnt work i fished on bottom with small slider rig same without cork. Her son fished commercial around old trestle with flyrod. these came from escambia river, x,s


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## Charlie2

I use a 1/2" fluorescent orange pom-pom on a #1 'J' hook shank just in front of a piece of fresh cut shrimp with a heavy inline sinker about 6"(may vary) on the line ahead of the hook. I do use monofilament.

A long rod definitely gives a better bait placement and control as well as leverage to land them. 

Strike just before you feel the bite.  JMHO C2


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## thecalmbeforethestorm

i prefer to use a kahle hook they are closest to circle hook and they work really great with the splitshots about16 in from my bait. always had good luck catching them but when the sheepies wont bite i go for the black drum


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## pole squeezer

I don't know if its legal down there right now, but my favorite bait for sheepshead are small, to medium hermit crabs, on a small jig, 1/16th-1/8th. I cracked the shells, removed the crab whole, and kicking, watch out for pincers, and hooked the jig in the middle seam with the point buried in the head. I have filled up coolers with this method. Plus, the crabs are free. Never saw anything about this being illegal. I imagine this would work on a small circle hook.


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## Reel Wins

i perfer using J hooks rather than circles because with sheepshead you usually have to jerk to set the hook instead of just applying pressure so J hooks work better for me 

Just my 2 cents though


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## pcolabeachbum

Thanks a lot guys!! I appreciate the tips.

I dont know why using hermit crabs for bait would be illegal... they're not endangered or anything. That would be like making it illegal to catch bull minnows haha.


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## pole squeezer

*hemit crabs*



pcolabeachbum said:


> Thanks a lot guys!! I appreciate the tips.
> 
> I dont know why using hermit crabs for bait would be illegal... they're not endangered or anything. That would be like making it illegal to catch bull minnows haha.


 Hermit crab are also great redfish bait, have used them in the bay, and around navy point. Rigged the same way for sheepshead. One summer a few years ago, I tallied 55 reds in the month of August using nothing but hermit crabs. Fished them around rocks, and oyster beds, and also docks on slack line, on incoming, or outgoing tides, became a line watcher. I've since moved away from the area, but am looking forward to moving back one day. Jigheads i used were stingray grub heads (redhead was best). Try bouncing crab off bottom too, and hang on!!


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## hjorgan

*Hermit crabs????*

Never woulda thunk it. Good tips!


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## davdoc0011

20simmons sea skiff said:


> Ive seen people fishing with heavy cane poles around bridge pilings and hoisting them out like tuna. bessie that ran jims fish camp taught me this. use flyrods small hooks light line with short leaders, quill corks. I used bream busters with ultalight spinning reels 6 lb line short 12lb leader small sheephead hook. when this didnt work i fished on bottom with small slider rig same without cork. Her son fished commercial around old trestle with flyrod. these came from escambia river, x,s
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And i thought 6 was a mess last weekend in PC


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## wetley49

I've always used fiddler crabs. Don't know if you can get them around here. Scraping the barnacles is also a great idea as mentioned above


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## pole squeezer

Only difficulty i've had with hermits occurred while fishing the rocks at ft. pickens, and kept having bait stolen by sheephead, i couldn't feel the bite because i was using a jig. So I put a crab on a short shank hook, and fished without any weight, just the weight of the hermit crap, and started catching sheephead, by watching the line. A small, to medium crab was the ticket, don't use those big ugly hermit crabs in the big shells, they look like something from aliens. The only danger fishing with hermit crabs is cracking the shell, and missing.


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## fishingcanada

Sheepshead will munch and crunch their food with a mouthful of strong incisor teeth, working into the current, up and down the pilings as they feed. Since these fish are fond of crustaceans, the preferred bait is the common mole crab, or "sand flea," found along the ocean beach. Sometimes the hunt for sand fleas can be as challenging as trying to catch a sheepshead, but they can be captured. Go to the beach about an hour before low tide and look for the fleas as they scurry back into the ocean as each wave recedes, trying to bury into the sand. 
Fleas may be dug by hand, or caught with a commercially made scoop. Sand fleas will stay alive for several hours or as long as a few days in a container of damp sand in a cooler or refrigerator. Don’t leave them in a bucket of water; they will die in short order.


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## rum cay

Just read an article in Florida Sportsman by a guy who would cut his used jerkbaits into thumbnail sized chunks, attach them to jigheads and bounce them along the bottom around schools of pompano. It apparently imitates a sandflea pretty well. He was also using those DOA clip weights on a either worm or straight-shank style hook getting the same effect. I haven't tried it yet but it might be worth a shot if you're having a hard time finding any sandfleas. Granted it was for pompano but it might work well around sheepshead too.


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## JD7.62

I do good with the sheepies fishing from the bridges and piers by using small owner light wire live bait type hooks, about 20" of 20lb fluro leader and a 1/4oz or two split shots. For bait I prefer live shrimp. As long as the wind isnt howling the light weight will be fine. Factor in the wind and current and use a little "Kentucky Windage" when you throw your bait so it will drift into the fish. If the fish are there, I can consistently put a few in the cooler with this method. For what its worth, Ive never had too much luck with fiddlers. The reason why I use as light of weight as possible with the shrimp is so that the pin fish wont get to them.


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## Kim

Here's an odd method but it works. Sheephead love eating barnacles etc and here's a way to keep it on the hook. Cut a small patch of nylon stocking, put shelled barnacles muscles etc inside patch, tie into a small pouch and put it on the hook. As everyone says, the smaller the hook the better.


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## fishingcanada

Sometimes the sheepshead is so fast in taking live bait that it is difficult to hook. One exciting way to catch this bait thief is to heavily chum an area with shrimp or bits of shellfish. After the sheepshead have begun to feed, cast with a small ¼ ounce jig. On light tackle this is a thrilling and sporting fish to catch. Use a medium /medium heavy class rod (12 to 20 pound) with a baitcast or spinning reel with 12 to 20 pound mono line. Around reefs and wrecks, use an 4 foot long heavier leader, with a single hook or a 2-hook bottom rig, using hook sizes from #6 to 2/0.


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## jdhkingfisher

or go to academy and get you a bow fishing rig. no bait, no hooks ahahahaha. jk man.


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## nonchalant

Mask,fins, snorkel and a short speargun work pretty good too.


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## pcolabeachbum

F the bow and spear gun, give me an AK 47 XD
Thanks for all the tips guys. I went to outcast for all the proper rigs and such and was quite successful. =D


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## PCfisher66

I know they are easy to spear when I go diving. I ususally only shoot them if they won't leave me alone or I can't find any good grouper or snapper. 
Tod


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## Ocean Master

When there wasn't any live bait around, shrimp and fiddler crabs, I would use hermit crabs, store bought clams or anything like this.


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