Fishing for sheepshead?

[geo]

Gonna hit the bay this weekend and make my first attempt at sheepshead fishing and just wondering how close do you need to get to the rocks and if you anchor or drift? Also do you fish the bottom?? Gonna get some fiddlers and maybe some sandfleas. Appreciate any info(Dixie you out there?) thanks in advance tight lines..................geo

[Duke of Fluke]

I saw two old guys in a pontoon boat absolutely crush the sheepshead and black puppy drum around the jetty's of OC inlet. They would motor right up to the jetty then flick a sand flea weighted only with split shot right up tight to the rocks. One man held the wheel while the other casted. They hooked fish after fish.

[Dixie719]

Similar to fishing for togs and you can use the same basic rig.

The Sheeps have been biting from what I hear in 15-20ft of water. While Tog's like a slacker tide to get biting, a little current does not bother the Sheeps.

Anchor up around the rocks in the desired depth of water and drop down your rig with a fiddler (big claw removed). It may take some 10-14 oz of lead depending on the current. Every now and then pick up your rod tip and bounce it here and there.

They are professional bait stealers so be aware of any nibble on your bait, and if you felt a hit and did not get him, then re-bait.

I would try around the 1st island and 2nd island right before and after the tubes.

Good Luck, I know they hammered them yesterday there!

[sandcasting]

Sandfleas work well for the sheepies, but you almost need to set the hook before feeling the bite. They will also eat barnacles. Scrape the barnacles off of a piling to get a little chum line started, and then catch'em up.

[geo]

Thanks for the info, cant get any fiddlers around my area gonna have to try sandfleas. But thanks alot for the responses. Dixie you the man!!.........geo

[Dixie719]

Blue Crab sections will work as well sometimes! I would pick up some of them for your "Spot" ;) !

Did you try Ocean East 2 or Long Bay Point for fiddlers yet? I'm sure they sold out being a weekend, but might be worth a check.

Also try Lighthouse Tackle at Taylors Landing Marina, as they are forgotten about since they are somewhat new.

[Dixie719]

Geo,

How did you do??

Clear your PM's out........!

[geo]

Dixie
Put it this way not eating any sheeps this week!! I sent you a PM.........tight lines........geo

[Dixie719]

Hey I didn't get that PM?

Did you put a 719 behind the Dixie??

[geo]

Dixie
Probably not. Anyways we went out to the bay anchored about 40ft from the rocks, first cast with 6oz sinker instantly got snagged on bottom. Same with second and third. Tried different depths, and went down to 2oz of lead and still couldnt prevent from snagging on to the rocks. So my question is how do you fish on or near the bottom without getting hung up??? we did manage to land a couple of striper and a small tog and all the small sea bass you wanted. We got frustrated and moved to near the first caught a few roundhead. Im still trying to get the hang of fishing the bay from a boat cause normally I fish out of rudee trolling for spanish and live baiting for cobia etc.. Im just curious on how you guys catch cobia on the weekends in the bay cause there is so much boat traffic. And there were no fiddlers to be found anywhere, ended up using crab and fresh clam..Anyways it was a learning experiance. Thanks for the info. tight lines.................geo

[Dixie719]

First, once anchored DO NOT cast!

Drop straight down to the bottom. You may be able to use 6oz of lead with no current, but most likely 8-10oz of lead to hold bottom and maybe go all the way up to 14oz!

Once your rig hits the bottom, pick up rod tip up and let the lead drop back down and you should feel the lead re-hit the bottom. I then every now and then do this to make sure your rig has not drifted into the rocks. However, many a times a Toad,Tog or Sheep will nail you and take you right on in anyway, it happens to me all the time (at least once a trip). Don't give up though, just let your line go slack and he/she may come back out.

Keep working up and down the boat. Just because you dropped in one spot and had no bites does not mean that 5 feet away up the boat there is no fish. I frequently work myself around the boat and find the fish (Walking the Tog). You will now and then feel a "Hole" underneath you when you drop down. That's where the fish are!

I use Power Pro as my maine line tied to a swivel then my rig which is made from 25-30# mono. You can feel the hit much better with the power pro.

If you work yourself all the way around the boat and no fish, pull up and re-anchor again asnd start over!! :D

I'll shoot yuou a picture of a rig I use for Tog and Sheep here in a day or so!

[geo]

Dixie
After the first couple of snags I tried dropping strait down, but my stuff drifted a little and like you said probably not enough weight. I will try again soon just need to get some more weights. Biggest I have 10oz tongue weights but use them down at hatteras surf fishing. The rigs I tied consisted of 2.5ft 40lb mono snelled to a 3/0 owner octopus and I had a few rigged with gami 2/0 live bait hook, was going to see if the owners were strong enough but never got the opportunity :( . tight lines..............geo

[catman]

geo....Never fished for sheepshead but I understand it's a lot like tog fishing which I target every chance I get. If you're not loosing rigs you're in the wrong place so it sounds like you were fishing where they live. :D To reduce the # of snags I keep my snells short - no longer than 3". If I'm in a lot of bottom junk I'll attach the sinker with a #33 rubberband. When the sinker gets hung (which is what most snags are) you only loose the sinker and not your rig. I think it was mentioned earlier about using braided line. The is an absolute neccessity. You need to be able to feel everything that's going on down there not to mention the slightest bite. With mono this is impossible - too much line stretch. I use 65# Power Pro braid with 10' of 40# leader tied to the main with an Improved Albright knot. I find that this combination will allow me to horse the fish out of the rocks without any hesitation. These rock dwelling fish like to grab their food and head right back into their whole in the rocks. This is where a lot of fish are lost. Once on you have to get him up immediately. Your hook selection seems fine, it's what I use. Well that's my 2 cents worth but it works for me. Good luck and tight lines. :)