Can you catch sheepshead at night

You want your weight to be as light as it can be until it starts to move. This size hook is small enough to get into the Sheepshead mouth, but big enough to not snap when a big girl hits. You want to use at least 10 lb test when fishing for Sheepshead because of the size they can grow to. If you are going to a spot with notoriously big Sheepshead I would increase the strength of the line you are using. As for your rod, I would use a medium action rod.

This gives you the touch you need, while also giving you the stiffness required to set the hook. As mentioned above Sheepshead feed on a variety of things. My personal favorite for catching Sheepshead are clams, fiddler crabs, and live shrimp. The difference between live and dead shrimp is daytime and nighttime. Sheepshead will attack live shrimp, but will give the dead shrimp the cold shoulder.

When rigging the shrimp, you want to drive your hook into where the legs start and out of where they end. This disguises your hook, while keeping the shrimp alive. Fiddler crabs are great bait because they can often be caught wherever you are fishing. To rig a fiddler crab drive the hook on the back under side of the crab and up through the top of the shell.

Clams are my last choice of bait because they do not move, and they are easily stolen by the Sheepshead. Make sure you get fresh clam, and try to secure them the best you can on the hook. The best time to fish for Sheepshead is when there is a high tide. This is because the higher tide means higher waters and thus more barnacles for the Sheepshead to come out and feed on. Now you have a decision on whether you are going to fillet the fish or cook it whole.

With smaller Sheepshead 1- 4 lbs I tend to cook them whole because you will end up getting more meat off of it. Plus the fish is so tasty as it is, there is no need to do much else to it. Rods and Reels. Choose a rod ft medium action with a light touch so you can feel the delicate bite of a sheepshead. For a reel, choose a mid-sized spinning reel in the 12lb size range. You can use either mono or braid, I prefer braided line again because it offers more sensitivity so you can feel the bite.

Any braided line will work but I prefer the Power Pro Super Slick 8 as it is much softer, rarely throws a wind knot and is the limpest of the braided lines. Rigs and Bait. I will almost always tell you to use a circle hook for almost any fish we fish for but that is not the case with sheepshead.

Because of the structure of a sheepshead mouth and all the molars you will need a very small J hook. If you are looking for actual size i would say no bigger than a dime and a little smaller would be fine. For your rig I suggest a short Carolina Rig slip lead rig. For most species we make this rig 3ft to 10ft depending on the species.

Usually we are using a circle hook and they work best on a longer leader. For sheepshead we will need a leader inches and we will be using a J Hook. If your leader is too long you may never feel the bite as sheepshead casually swim up and crush their prey, their bite is so light and if your leader is long you may never feel the bite.

You also want to us a premium Fluorocarbon leader Seagur. Fluorocarbon is invisible to the fish as it is the same density as saltwater and does not refract light and makes it easier to fool the sheepshead into biting. You want the lightest possible and still be able to keep it right next to the structure you are fishing. How to Catch Sheepshead. As I said earlier there are many places you can catch sheepshead from the shore or boat. Shore fishing adds some challenges because you are limited to where you can fish.

Another advantage the fisherman fishing from boats have is natural chumming. When fishing from a boat take a shovel or garden rake to scrape the pilings knocking off the barnacles, this creates a natural chum slick. Good places to fish from a boat are the Coast Guard Station, Destin Bridge, West Jetty, The docks along the south side of the bay between Destin and Fort Walton Beach, harbor and most docks with deep water access in the bayous. While oysters work well they are the hardest to get to stay on the hook.

Old timers tell stories of wrapping then in panty hose and then putting on a hook to get them to stay on. No matter which bait you choose you will need to fish right next to the pilings or structure.

Sheepshead are very structure oriented and wont feed very far from structure. They will bite on the incoming or out going tide but tend to bite best on the outgoing tide. As said earlier Sheepshead are excellent eating. I fillet them and and make smaller pieces. Yummy Caribbean Cole Slaw. Finely shred cabbage, carrot and cucumber. Make a dressing of apple cider vinegar, avocado oil and sugar. Mix three parts vinegar, one part oil and one part sugar.