including some nice fish. For reference, the cutting board is 20 inches long. This wasn’t the largest one, just the one on hand when I remembered to take a picture.
Catching sheepshead nearshore this time of year isn’t weird, but I don’t fish for them. We weren’t really fishing for them this time either since no bueno at catching sheepshead. We saw fish on the sounder when trolling. At this area, didn’t find what we wanted trolling so decided to drop on the marked fish with jigs hoping to catch a weakfish.
Caught all the sheepshead but one on gold Hopkins smoothie casting spoon. One on a light red jig but the Hopkins was the magic lure. Any time dropped on target, a hit. A hit - no subtle take. Most hooked inside the mouth. No annoying fiddler crabs or oysters in socks needed. Go figure?
Left the sheepshead biting once we had enough to use all available patience cleaning them, less than a one-person limit. Let some of the smaller legal fish go along with the shorts.
Also caught Atlantic Bonito and Bluefish trolling. Many False Albacore - they were everywhere this trip.
Water temps 66.3 wherever we tried - 40 to 60 feet deep. You can probably guess where.
Ha, how about that! Did you happen to see any developed ovaries while cleaning? They should be in full swing now
I haven’t been this year, but our personal limits in my circle is 6ish fish each and let the 8+lbers go to keep breeding. And the patience factor, they take a little time to break down.
When we were on our only official work trip for bonito a month ago (0% pelagic success), we marked some stuff on things like the CHS mitigation reef (35’ and 55 deg) and the 60 (60 deg), dropped assorted vertical jigs, and got nothing. Assumed they were sheeps. Maybe next time a gold Hopkins can answer that question.
Thanks for the reports and congrats on the sushi-grade wahoo and tuna on your menu now too.
As for sheepshead, I treat them like a steak since they’re firm and juicy. Seared until the first side releases with some pretty grill marks- a couple mins- and then a quick finish on the other side. EVOO and old bay or lemon pepper. Just oil and salt brings out the subtle flavor or pair with pesto, roasted rosemary potatoes and a gazpacho to make it springy.
And they make a fine ceviche too if you’re on to the corona beach vibe already!
Also, sheep fillets freeze very well. Divide down the lateral line into what I think of as “loin/strip” and “tail/triangle” so that you remove all of the red meat you can- IMO they end up fishy from freezer time otherwise.
Flounder and sheep are my go-to freezer fish if I can get a couple extra, the former on the grill and the latter crispy panko fried
I did not see any developed ovaries but can’t say I checked.
Thanks for the helpful prep and recipe advice. Looking forward to trying on the sheeps.
Wahoo was tasty indeed.
In addition to the sushi/sashimi, working my way through the raw recipes in Eric Ripert’s cookbook “Seafood Simple.” Great cookbook from the owner/chef of Le Bernadin.
Ceviche, poke and tartare, etc. all pretty simple to execute - not fussy. The mackerel tartare at Le Bernadin is my number one rated dish of all time. A bit of cheating though, it includes caviar as well as mackerel.
