Structure-loving sheepshead are an angler’s winter wonder

Lon Porter shows off a sheepshead he caught. Sheepshead eat barnacles and typically stay near any hard structures, such as rigs, wrecks, reefs and bridge or dock pilings. Throughout the Biloxi area, anglers can find numerous structures that hold sheepshead. (Photo by John N. Felsher)

Powerful sheepshead offer inshore anglers along Mississippi’s Gulf coast special opportunities, especially during the winter.

Just as the old boat pulled up to the bridge, something flashed in the greenish water. 

The object hovered just a few feet beneath the surface, right against a barnacle-encrusted piling before it disappeared.

“Get a live shrimp and stick the hook under its horn,” the old man instructed, slipping the motor into reverse to stop the momentum and then cutting the engine so the vessel floated as close to the piling as possible. “Don’t use any weight. Just drop that live shrimp down next to the piling and feed out a little line at a time.”

The boy did as coached. Soon, the line stopped moving.

“I think I’m hung on the piling or something,” the boy whispered. “I didn’t feel a bite, but the line just stopped.”

“Set the hook!” the old man said adamantly. “You might be hung on something, but I don’t think it’s the piling.”

Moments later, the light rod bent into a horseshoe as the boy struggled to fight the huge fish, which didn’t run like a redfish or rush to the surface, shaking its head, like a speckled trout. It just headed to the bottom and stayed there, daring him to overpower the toothy behemoth. 

Eventually, the boy brought a 6-pound fish to the surface, where the old man netted what looked like a dinner platter that had just escaped from an old-time jail, still wearing its black and white stripes: a sheepshead.

Sheepshead usually don’t receive as much attention from saltwater anglers, most of whom probably would rather pursue speckled trout and redfish. In fact, sheepshead traditionally rank low on the desirability scale on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, but these powerful and challenging barnacle-busting beasts can mangle the toughest tackle and provide outstanding sport for any angler.

(Photo by John N. Felsher)

No attention-getter

“I think sheepshead is an underutilized species in our recreational fishery,” said Matt Hill, finfish bureau director for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in Biloxi. “For most recreational fishermen, it’s a by-catch while they’re trying to catch speckled trout or redfish.”

Most sheepshead range from 1 to 4 pounds, but they can exceed 20. The Magnolia State record stands at 19 pounds, 10 ounces. With powerful jaws meant for crushing shells and a mouth bristling with teeth, large sheepshead can bite through most lines and even some hooks.

“We’ve caught sheepshead exceeding 10 pounds,” said Robert Brodie with Team Brodie Charters in Biloxi. “On light tackle, that’s quite a challenge to bring in such a powerful fish.”

Abundant, easy to catch and powerful fighters, sheepshead make exceptional sport for young or novice anglers. They allow anglers to catch big fish without spending a fortune heading offshore. In fact, anglers commonly catch sheepshead off docks, seawalls, jetties and other places where anglers without access to boats can fish. The best fishing for the pugnacious porgies usually occurs during the colder months when pre-spawn fish reach their greatest weights.

“We have a very robust sheepshead population,” Hill said. “Fishing success starts to pick up in the fall each year and continues through the spawning season. In January and February, they are staging. They’re still inshore, but (they) move offshore in a large congregation when ready to spawn. They usually spawn from February to April, with the peak in Mississippi waters from late March to early April.”

Structure residents

Whether spawning or just going about their daily lives, sheepshead normally like to stay near hard structure. They often congregate around reefs, wrecks, shell piles, jetties, riprap, platforms or any other solid structures where they eat one of their favorite foods: barnacles. 

“When we’re fishing for sheepshead, we re-rig a lot because they are notorious for hanging around the roughest structure,” said Sonny Schindler of Shore Thing Fishing Charters out of Bay St. Louis. “Anyone fishing in a good sheepshead spot will lose some tackle.”

Sheepshead especially like bridge and dock pilings because they can move up and down in the water column but stay close to structure. Anglers frequently see them hovering at various depths munching barnacles.

“Sheepshead are extremely easy to catch around most of our structures,” Hill said. “They’ll get up next to the concrete and wood pilings to eat barnacles. Many people go up to the pilings and scrape the barnacles off with a shovel or something. That’s legal to do in Mississippi. Scraping the barnacles off the pilings gets sheepshead in a feeding frenzy.”

Besides barnacles, sheepshead particularly love crunching shrimp and crabs. They also eat clams, squid and other morsels, as well as live minnows and fish pieces, but they prefer crustaceans, with fiddler crabs at the top of the list. They occasionally strike artificials, like spoons, spinners, flies, soft plastics or other lures, but most people entice them with natural baits. 

“Crabs make outstanding sheepshead baits,” Brodie said. “We pull the top shell off and break a blue crab in half or quarter it. For a big crab, we cut each half into three or four pieces. Fiddler crabs are like candy for a sheepshead.”

The state of Mississippi built numerous artificial reefs all along its coastline to provide cover for fish, like this one in Mississippi Sound near Pass Christian, Miss. Sheepshead eat barnacles and typically stay near any hard structures like these artificial reefs. They also hang around jetties, seawalls, bridge and dock pilings and other hard objects. (Photo by John N. Felsher)

Fish close to cover

Sheepshead usually stay very tight to cover. For fishing vertical structures like pilings, quietly approach as close as possible. Vertically drop a jighead tipped with a shrimp or a live-bait rig to the bottom. If nothing bites, pull it up a couple feet. Experiment with different depths to find fish. After spotting a fish hovering near a piling, free-line a shrimp or crab piece down next to the piling.

Even the largest sheepshead typically just nibbles on a bait. Almost timidly, it might examine a morsel before using its human-like teeth to snip the bait right behind the hook. Anglers might not even detect subtle strikes. 

Capt. Robert Brodie of Team Brodie Charters shows off a sheepshead he caught near Biloxi, Miss. Anglers can find abundant structures in the form of bridge and dock pilings and other hard objects where they can find sheepshead. (Photo by John N. Felsher)

“Sheepshead can be tricky to catch,” Brodie said. “They are sneaky. I like to use a smaller shrimp with a smaller hook to fool them. They engulf those smaller shrimp more quickly. Sometimes, people almost need to anticipate the bite to catch them. When we feel a little subtle downward pull, we set the hook and hang on.”

When hooked, sheepshead immediately head for cover and try to rub the line against sharp barnacles to break it. Built for power, not speed, these scrappers declare a brutal tug of war and never give up.

“When fishing for sheepshead, we beef up the tackle,” Brodie said. “I keep special rigs ready with 65-pound Power Pro braid, a 100-pound black swivel and 18 inches of 80-pound test monofilament leader with a 2/0 live bait hook on a Carolina rig with a 1-ounce weight. We need that extra strength to get big fish out of structure before the barnacles pop the line.”

Bridge the gaps

In Mississippi waters, some of the best sheepshead fishing occurs in the Biloxi Bay area. The US 90 bridge connecting Biloxi to Ocean Springs always produces good action, as well as the old railroad trestle nearby. People can also fish around numerous piers and hundreds of other small and large structures. Fish-cleaning stations on docks make especially good places to fish because people toss scraps into the water, and that attracts crabs.

“The easiest place around Biloxi Bay to catch sheepshead is to fish the bridges, which concentrates the fish and makes them easier to catch,” Hill said. “The Bay St. Louis bridge and nearby train trestle is another good place. In the Pascagoula River system, people can find several bridges where sheepshead congregate.”

Throughout Biloxi Bay, anglers can use their electronics to find small structures that few people know exist. Over the centuries, uncountable storms scattered debris all over the bay. Many people call these small pieces “katrinkets” after Hurricane Katrina. 

“The bay is full of structures,” Brodie said. “Wherever anglers can find an old pier or pilings encrusted with barnacles, that’s a good place to fish. We catch some sheepshead around the bayou mouths, especially ones with oyster reefs, ledges or other types of nearby structure. In the winter, we catch a lot of sheepshead up the rivers. We look for areas with sudden drop-offs next to a shelf.”

Anglers can also fish numerous artificial reefs the state established along the coast. Katrina Key sits just outside the mouth of Biloxi Bay. Composed mostly of old bridge spans, the reef stretches about a mile and sits in about 9 feet of water.

Some anglers also head out to fish the barrier islands where they might find sheepshead hanging around bottom structure or roaming the beaches. Sheepshead also hover around buoy chains and crab traps. They sometimes nibble the legs off crabs caught in traps.

Many anglers look down on sheepshead as food fish because it takes more effort to clean them. They come with large spines that can inflict pain. However, the meat is excellent table fare. Some places package sheepshead as artificial crab meat. Restaurants often serve sheepshead under the name of “bay snapper.”

About John N. Felsher 64 Articles
An avid sportsman, John N. Felsher is a full-time professional freelance writer and photographer with more than 3,300 bylines in more than 160 different magazines. He also hosts an outdoors tips show for WAVH FM Talk 106.5 radio station in Mobile, Ala. Contact him at j.felsher@hotmail.com or through Facebook.

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