I was watching a local fishing show called “Reeling up the Coast” and they taped some Inshore Reef Fishing in January 5 miles out at the Pawleys Island Reef cathcing piles of Black Sea Bass and target fishing for Sheepshead. They were using frozen fiddler crabs on Fishizzle 1/4 to 1/2 oz purple and red jig heads. They were really cathcing them. Have any of you had much luck with this and typically with the current weather we are having how much longer will this bite last?
isn’t 5 miles out classified as “federal water” and “offshore” by every metric?
frozen fiddler crabs are a poor second to live ones, the legs tend to break off quickly.
anchoring over the tallest piece of structure on any given reef is the best bet on finding sheeps, which will continue to be in those areas until around april because they migrate offshore in the winter to spawn.
black sea bass can be found just about anywhere, and will typically inhibit one’s ability to target the sheeps as i’m sure they mentioned on the show.
this sort of fishing occurs across our entire coast in water 30-90’ deep this time of year (jan-april).
Clams also work well with the sheephead on the reefs but its hard to pick through the all endangered BSB’s
How do you feel about braid with a flouro leader? does it help with the sheep bite
“I fish therefore I lie”
2006 Mckee Craft 185 Bay Classic 150 Yamaha
sheepshead can see very well, and i think they routinely inspect things from a few inches away before biting them.
i know some people who don’t worry about it, but i find a short length of good fluoro (12-18") works well for me.
i only fish them inshore, typically 15lb powerpro uni-to-uni to 20lb fluoro with a very small egg sinker or a split shot and a #1 owner j-hook.
Thanks guys, Friday looks like the wind will be layed down enough for me to go out there and try it.
“I fish therefore I lie”
2006 Mckee Craft 185 Bay Classic 150 Yamaha
since I started this here ( on the inshore page) I thought I would at least share the results, we did well, we kept 11 large Sheepshead and fed the family well. We cooked them 4 different ways and man they were delicious. 1/2 oz fishizzle “meal ticket” jig heads using frozen fiddlers. 38’ of water off murrells inlet.
“I fish therefore I lie”
2006 Mckee Craft 185 Bay Classic 150 Yamaha
that’s awesome, glad you had some luck!