How to Catch a Sheepshead Fishing Florida (The Complete Guide)
The best way to catch sheepshead is to target them around any underwater structure that has barnacles on it with a #2 sized J hook and a small piece of shrimp and a light 8 to 10 pound fluorocarbon leader. You can catch them in the grass flats; around mangroves; around oyster bars and mangrove roots.
Sheepshead is one of those fish that seem like they are everywhere in Florida. That is because they are just about everywhere. You can catch them 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico when they are spawning.
Sheepshead are decent fighters and are very good to eat. They are very difficult to clean because they are extremely bony. But it is worth the extra work because of their light and mild meat. They are an excellent candidate to fillet and release into the grease.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been catching sheepshead from the mangroves since I was about 5 years old. My older brothers and I would catch a bunch of fiddler crabs and catch sheepshead all day with our cane poles.
In this article I will give you all of the simple tips and techniques that I know for for how to catch a sheepshead.
Watch the video below and learn how to catch more sheepshead.
The best way to catch sheepshead is to target them around any underwater structure that has barnacles on it with a #2 sized J hook and a small piece of shrimp and a light 8 to 10 pound fluorocarbon leader. You can catch them in the grass flats; around mangroves; around oyster bars and mangrove roots.
Sheepshead is one of those fish that seem like they are everywhere in Florida. That is because they are just about everywhere. You can catch them 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico when they are spawning.
Sheepshead are decent fighters and are very good to eat. They are very difficult to clean because they are extremely bony. But it is worth the extra work because of their light and mild meat. They are an excellent candidate to fillet and release into the grease.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been catching sheepshead from the mangroves since I was about 5 years old. My older brothers and I would catch a bunch of fiddler crabs and catch sheepshead all day with our cane poles.
In this article I will give you all of the simple tips and techniques that I know for for how to catch a sheepshead.
Watch the video below and learn how to catch more sheepshead.
How to catch a sheepshead--Bridge Pilings
Barnacles and sheepshead go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you can some kind of underwater structure with barnacles on it you can find sheepshead somewhere close by. They have these protruding buck teeth that are perfectly evolved to clip barnacles off of underwater structures. Their back molars are evolved to crush through the hard shells of barnacles and just about anything else.
I remember when I was a kid watching the old timers, (Who were probably younger than I am now) taking square head shovels and scraping the barnacles, mussels and oysters off of the bridge pilings to attract the sheepshead. The fish would appear out of no where to the chum slick that was created.
Then the old timers would toss a small piece of shrimp with a 1/0 hook and a split shot to the fish that would be attracted. They would catch 4 or 5 nice ones for dinner and leave within 15 or 20 minutes. Guess what. This method still works today. Scrape some of the barnacles and oysters off of the pilings if you don't see any sheephead and they will come. If the sheepshead are already there don't worry about it.
This fish has a very small mouth which makes them notorious bait stealers. You have to downsize your hooks to a 1/0 or smaller help minimize losing your baits without a hook up. You are still going to get your bait stolen a lot but you will get some for the dinner plate. Visit the Pro Fishing Tips page to learn more about getting the right tackle to maximize your fishing fun.
I like to downsize my baits as well. If I am using frozen shrimp, I will cut them in 3 pieces to make it harder for the fish to pull it off the hook without getting hooked. I usually suggest using circle hooks for most fish but with a sheepshead the J hook is the way to go. You have to set the hook quickly once they have it in their mouths. When I fish bridges for sheepshead my rig is a 1/0 or smaller hook with a split shot 6 inches above the bait. It is simple and effective.
The video below is about sheepshead fishing in Florida waters.
How to catch a sheepshead--Inlets
All inlets have big boulders and sea walls on either side of them. Those boulders and sea walls are covered in barnacles, mussels, oysters and all kinds of other stuff that sheepshead love to eat. There will be sheepshead in the area so you can walk the rocks and sight fish them with the shrimp and split shot rig or chum them over to you with some small shrimp pieces.
The good news is that there will probably be mangrove snapper with them too. It's a good thing when you are fishing for sheepshead and catch a bunch of snapper instead.
I wrote another article that covers in great detail Winter fishing for sheepshead. Winter is when they come inshore in great numbers after they spawn. You can read that article by clicking right here.
How to catch a sheepshead--Docks
Dock pilings are another place that have the food that sheepshead like. It takes a few years for the pilings to really fill up with oysters, barnacles and mussels so don't bother with the newer docks. There won't be much marine life attached to them for a while.
Once you find an older dock to fish use the same shrimp with a split shot rig to target your sheepshead. I have tried lots of other baits and shrimp work the best almost always. The only time this is not the case is around mangroves where mangrove crabs and fiddler crabs out catch shrimp by just a smidge. In other words, there is no need to use anything but frozen shrimp when targeting this species.
You can catch sheepshead on lures. I have caught them ACCIDENTALLY on gold and silver spoons, scented imitation shrimp on a jig head and a soft plastic shad with a paddle tail on a jig head. In my opinion, lure fishing for this fish is a waste of time unless you are doing it just for the sport of it. The frozen shrimp or crab will out fish a lure every time.
I wrote another article on this website that covers dock fishing in great detail. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Why are sheepshead such great bait stealers? Sheepshead are such great bait stealers because of the way that their mouths evolved and because of the way that they eat.
Their mouths are small and sturdy with a set of creepy looking human teeth that don't look like they should be in a fish mouth. BUT those buck teeth are perfectly evolved to pick barnacles, mussels, oysters or anything else that is stuck to something off so that they can crush it and eat it.
They have a hard bony plate in their mouths called a pharyngeal plate that evolved to crush up hard things so that the sheepshead can eat it. They crush the barnacles and oysters and then gulp them down.
When a sheepshead grabs hold of your fiddler crab or shrimp you usually will not feel the bite because the bait is just sitting in the sheepshead's mouth being crushed up. If you don't set the hook it will eat the crab or shrimp and spit out the hook.
The best way to stop them from stealing your bait is to gently raise your rod tip to feel if there is any resistance. If you feel some, then you had better set the hook. Like I said earlier, you will want to use a 1/0 circle hook so that it will fit in their mouths better.
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How to catch a sheepshead--Oyster Bars
My favorite way to catch sheepshead is sight fishing for them around oyster bars and mud flats at low tide. Sheepshead are another fish that "tails" in search of shrimp and crabs around oyster clumps. They will be vertical in the water column as they flip over oyster clumps to eat shrimp and mud crabs. Their tails will be sticking up in the air when the tide is low enough. If you pitch a shrimp or a fiddler crab over to a tailing sheepshead you will get a bite 9 out of 10 times. This is an extremely fun way to catch sheepshead especially if you have a fishing kayak to stealth up on them with.
How to catch a sheepshead--Mangroves
Mangroves are another great place to target sheepshead. The roots of the mangroves are almost always covered in oysters and barnacles. As you now know these fish love to eat barnacles and any shrimp or crab that is in the vicinity as well.
The mangroves are about the only environment where the mangrove crab out fishes the shrimp, in my opinion. If you can catch a bunch of mangrove crabs from the branches and roots of the mangroves you will catch sheepshead if they are around. The 1/0 hook with the split shot rig works the best. You will usually have to present your bait within a foot or two of the mangrove roots to get the attention of the fish.
A lot of the time if there are sheepshead around there are mangrove snappers too. Both make excellent table fare.
I wrote another article on this website that is all about inshore saltwater fishing. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Best gear for sheepshead:
If you are going to be fishing for sheepshead all day you will definitely need to protect your eyes and skin from the sun's harmful rays. Polarized sunglasses are a must for sheepshead fishing. A high end pair of sunglasses will run about $250 and a lower end pair will run you about $25 with glass lenses. You can find them with plastic lenses for about $5 at Walmart.
Whatever price range you decide to go with you must wear polarized sunglasses or you can not sight fish for sheepshead around the mangroves or under some bridge. The polarized lenses eliminate the glare on the surface of the water so that you can see under the surface.
The best color lenses for inshore and dirtier water scenarios are amber, rose and copper. If you are fishing super clean and clear water or you are fishing offshore a blue or a gray lens is best.
You will also want to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. These shirts have built in sunscreen and are moisture wicking which means they evaporate your perspiration more efficiently keeping you cool on those hot days on the water.
Conclusion:
Sheepshead are a favorite for some inshore fishermen. They are very popular and very good to eat too. They are somewhat hard to clean because they are so bony but the meat is very white and tender. Get ready to sharpen your fillet knife a few times if you catch a bunch of them because their skin is very tough.
Sheepshead and mangrove snappers are the two fish that got me started on my love for inshore fishing more than 40 years ago. My brothers and father would take me cane pole fishing for them using fiddler crabs. Back then I liked catching the crabs about as much as I liked fishing for sheephead but I was only 5 years old.
Sheepshead are a very strong fighting fish and fun to catch. That is probably why they are so popular with inshore saltwater fishermen all over the Southern United States. I still enjoy catching them and I'm sure that you will enjoy it too.
I hope that this article helps you catch more sheepshead or at the very least helps you have more fun trying. Thanks for reading it.