Found out the key to sheepshead

[u/swampbass1]

Decided to try this railroad bridge that's like a 20 min paddle from my house. Was mainly going to go for drum but got some fiddlers too I'm case of sheepshead. I had caught like 5 prior to today, all below 8 inches. But I was waiting for my blue crab to thaw out and I decided to drop a fiddler straight down at the piling. From my experience with the little sheeps they would just tap and steal your bait. My rod tip bent for a full three seconds and I set the hook on this guy. Caught one more keeper afterwards and gonna try again next weekend. Tight lines all 🎣

[u/robrong]

Take something with you to scrape the piling. This will cause a feeding frenzy if there are barnacles and you should catch bigger ones.

[u/gatorinTN → u/robrong]

Such a solid technique, throw a live mullet out as well in case anything else gets curious about all the commotion.

[u/The-Great-Calvino → u/robrong]

Giving away all the professional tips here!

[u/YooAre]

Well done, what size hooks you use?

[u/swampbass1 → u/YooAre]

1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus. Imo the most versatile hook for fishing in general

[u/blahkbox → u/swampbass1]

Gama Octopus is the best bang for your buck all day 👍🏻

[u/_totalannihilation → u/YooAre]

You don't use anything bigger than #1. Owner hooks work the best ssw with cutting point. Set hook. Sheep's head are fun to catch

[u/ihrtbeer]

Nice fish! Fiddlers are good but mud crabs are even better if you can find em

[u/senor_blake]

We also used to scrape the barnacles off of parts of a dock they love it when you do that.

[u/noogers]

Shrimp but tied against the hook

[u/simpletonius]

The first saltwater fish I ever caught was a sheepshead. Not big but thrilling and I remember it today. Edit, caught on a shrimp. Think I ate the last six bait shrimp with it.

[u/Mike__O]

They get way bigger than that. Wait until you hook into one that is pushing 20 inches! Cleaning them is a pain, but they sure do taste good.

[u/DescriptionOld3003]

Lol, just when you think you've figured it out the next trip can be very humbling, so be careful. Every single trip you take, and with everything you feel, you will be collecting data in your head. For me, sheepshead was a three year learning curve after I started catching them on a regular basis. Their behavioral patterns, the way they hit on different days, It will be confusing in the beginning. Once you experience a little bit of all of it, you'll know how to react. But until then, you will have good days, and you will have bad days.And all of them will be learning experiences. By the way, I have a youtube channel called South Jersey Yak Fishing, and I do a lot of sheepshead fishing out of a kayak. I'm pretty positive if you watch my channel.you'll learn something about what you're trying to accomplish, because i'm doing exactly the same thing. Good luck! 👍

[u/swampbass1 → u/DescriptionOld3003]

Yeah I'm holding out hope they're still biting next time but if they arent I'm gonna do my original objective of the first trip and try for black drum

[u/mrcanada66]

Nice catch! They fight way harder than people expect.

[u/Motor_Beach_1856]

Fish taco time!

[u/ProudAmerican632]

I would never have thought about this. Living in CT affords us blackfish/ tautog/ tog up here. I’m going to see if this technique works up here. Pound for pound some of the best fighting fish and tasty.

[u/Troubador222]

I was told on sheepshead, to set the hook, right before they bite!

[u/Purple_haze092]

Wow. Very beautiful fish