# Sheepshead was on fire at destin bridge



## scspecv22

i got to destin bridge around 12 pm and sheepshead were everywhere. i'm talking hundreds! i only went with 2 dozen live shrimp and i almost limited out, i ended up with 13 huge sheephead. The water was crystal clear and i could see about 5 fish fighting for the bait everytime i droped my line. i had a blast.i ended upgiving 8 of them to my co workers and brought home 5.


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## Travis Gill

Yep its a drum. Is that the bridge that goes over the pass?


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## scspecv22

oops i'm sorry that fish was from sunday.you are right thatone was a black drum.here is the sheepsheads from today


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## scspecv22

that's the bridge that goes from the okaloosa island to destin


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## scspecv22

i found them easier to catch when the water is clearer and on incoming tide. i've done good everytime i've gone out but better when the water is clearer


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## scspecv22

i don't know about the evening because i usually go during the daytime. i think all of last week during the day was out going.


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## scspecv22

park your car in the parking lot on the island and start walking on the bridge towards destin. you should see a sign i forget what it says probably no parking or something like that from that sign to the next sign which is where the boats enter. i don't really know how deep the water is at the first sign it's probably 10feet or so and it just gets deeper as you get closer to destin.


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## JOHNJOHN205

did a cross refernce with saltwatertides.com and noaa dead on on some spots but found out that they were off by an hour on one the spots i checked in va.

but they seem to work fine for around here.


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## Framerguy

Dave (floridabeachbums) and I put in yesterday around 9:30 AM and fished the bridge with live shrimp on an incoming tide, (low tide was around 7 something AM yesterday), and neither of us got as much as a bump!!! I am here to say that fishing in saltwater can be the most frustrating adventure of a fisherman's life!! 

I have fished all over North America and Canada throughout my life for almost every type of freshwater fish available and consider myself a fairly knowledgeable fisherman, but I have the worst time taking saltwater fish of anything I have tried!! I have caught Rocky Mtn. whitefish on fly rod with tiny dry flies that were hand tied within 3 minutes of using them but I can't get a hit on a live shrimp down here. Yesterday we couldn't even give away our leftover shrimp!! We had to dump them in the Pass and wish them well!!

Either you who have fished the salt know some deep dark secrets to handling your bait or I have gone through a time warp and come into a parallel universe where guys who used to fish are denied the priviledge of catching any fish here!! I got one hit on the very first shrimp I baited up with and only used 2 more shrimp the entire morning up to 12:30 when we pulled out and went home.

So are any of you giving lessons on technique or am I to simply hook myself through the jugular with a circle hook and troll myself through the pass on a strong incoming tide and be done with it??? Very rarely did I come home from a bass fishing foray skunked! I always had the right lure or the proper live bait for the conditions but I'll be danged if I can figure out what to use or when to use it down here. 

I NEED HELP!!!


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## jared

Framerguy, I grew up fishing saltwater in texas and when i moved here i was clueless. I couldn't catch a fish for like my 1st two years. Now I'm doing pretty good though. If you wan't some sheepshead at the destin bridge this is how you do it. First get some of you're finesse bass tackle.(6-8lb spinning & a sensitive rod.) Rig up a carolina rig with the smallest egg sinker the tide will let you use.(1/16-1/4oz) As your leader use about a 15" piece of 20lb mono Then get a #1 Mustad live bait hook(think small) Then with your live shrimp you can either hook them right under the horn just fwd of the brain or from the bottom of the tail. Then you get right next to a piling & drop it down with no slack. Here's the tricky part--Use 1 finger to balance the rod just fwd of the butt-this way you are not looking for the rod tip to bend, the rod will kinda just start leaning towards the water when theyre playing with it. good luck


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## Pier#r

Nice looking sheepies and drum.

Good pics and imfo :bowdown


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## FISHERMON1985

Great report and awesome pics, as always.:clap I'm hoping to take my girlfriend this weekend so maybe the fishing gods will be in my favor...

:usaflag


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## scspecv22

i have had no problems getting them to bite at the destin bridge. were you fishing from a boat? when i was out there yesterday i only saw one boat and they were near where the boats enter and out. try fishing shallower parts i don't know if you can see them on the boat but when i fish on the bridge i can see where all the fish are. i use a 15# or a 20# line with a number 3 circle hook. just remember you will only feel a nibble once or twice then just reel it in and usually that will set the hook.


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## Framerguy

No, we were in kayaks, a tan Redfish and a yellow Ocean Kayak, and we launched about 9:30 in the morning on the West end of the Destin bridge. We both fished on the bay side of the bridge up to the large boat pass through and then fished on the Gulf side of the bridge back across almost to the shore on Okaloosa Island. I am really surprised that you didn't see 2 nuts in rainsuits paddling their butts off in that wind and current!!

From the sounds of things I am using the wrong rig for fishing in the bridge area. I have been using a Carolina rig but with a much heavier bullet sinker and a larger hook. I tried both J hooks and circle hooks to no avail. I will make up some lighter rigs and see what I can do with them this weekend, weather allowing.

Thanks for the tips.

Edit:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=SmallTxt width="80%"><DIV id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_smAuthorName_SimpleMenuDivLayer onmouseover="InstantASP_OpenMenuMouseOver('_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_smAuthorName','_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_smAuthorName_SimpleMenuDivLayer','<table width=100% class=PanelBar_OuterTable cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td><table width=100% cellspacing=1 cellpadding=7><tr><td class=TableCell_Light>View Member\'s Profile</tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light>Add to Buddy List</tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light><a href=__doPostBack(\'butSendPrivateMessage\',\'1779\'); onmouseover=\'window.status=window.location;return true;\'; onmouseout=window.status=\'\';return true; Class=\'SmlLinks\' Title=\'Send Private Message\'>Send Private Message</a></tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light><a href=__doPostBack(\'butSendEmail\',\'1779\'); onmouseover=\'window.status=window.location;return true;\'; onmouseout=window.status=\'\';return true; Class=\'SmlLinks\' Title=\'Send Email To Member\'>Send Email To Member</a></tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light><a href=__doPostBack(\'butShowMemberPosts\',\'1779\'); onmouseover=\'window.status=window.location;return true;\'; onmouseout=window.status=\'\';return true; Class=\'SmlLinks\' Title=\'Find All Member\s Posts\'>Find All Member\'s Posts</a></tr></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>','165px');" style="DISPLAY: inline" onclick="InstantASP_OpenMenu('_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_smAuthorName','_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_smAuthorName_SimpleMenuDivLayer','<table width=100% class=PanelBar_OuterTable cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td><table width=100% cellspacing=1 cellpadding=7><tr><td class=TableCell_Light>View Member\'s Profile</tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light>Add to Buddy List</tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light><a href=__doPostBack(\'butSendPrivateMessage\',\'1779\'); onmouseover=\'window.status=window.location;return true;\'; onmouseout=window.status=\'\';return true; Class=\'SmlLinks\' Title=\'Send Private Message\'>Send Private Message</a></tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light><a href=__doPostBack(\'butSendEmail\',\'1779\'); onmouseover=\'window.status=window.location;return true;\'; onmouseout=window.status=\'\';return true; Class=\'SmlLinks\' Title=\'Send Email To Member\'>Send Email To Member</a></tr><tr><td class=TableCell_Light><a href=__doPostBack(\'butShowMemberPosts\',\'1779\'); onmouseover=\'window.status=window.location;return true;\'; onmouseout=window.status=\'\';return true; Class=\'SmlLinks\' Title=\'Find All Member\s Posts\'>Find All Member\'s Posts</a></tr></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>','165px');">scspecv22If you happen to be Oriental, we saw you park just up from where Dave and I were loading our kayaks yesterday. You went up on the bridge and then came back to your car for something that you forgot. We were going to give you another 2 dozen shrimp but you got back to the bridge before we could get back to the parking lot and yell at you. </DIV><NOSCRIPT>scspecv22</NOSCRIPT></TD><TD class=SmallTxt noWrap align=right width="20%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## scspecv22

The correct term is asian these days, but that was me. you are right i did go back to my car for my jacket. try fishing from the bridge next time you will be amazed how many sheepshead you'll see. they all seem to sit inbetween the first and the second signs. oh yeah i hope you have a big pier net cause your gonna need it. good luck and maybe i'll see you guys out there again.


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## wirenut

Gotta get to destin and get some of those sheeps.


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## Framerguy

Hey, sorry for the ethnic faux pas. I didn't mean anything personal by it, just didn't know whether to say Japanese or Hawaiian or what so I used the old term, more in my generation than a slur. 

I'll say hello next time I see you and hope you do the same.


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## scspecv22

hey no offense taken, i didn't take it as a slur just letting you know asian is the word these days.


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## Pcola-born

Great looking fish...what did you use for bait? Have you ever thought about artificials (fishbites, gulp shrimp/crab) for sheepsheads?

Pcola-born

:usaflag


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## true-king

nice! good to hear that someone's catching sheepshead.


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