My friend’s boat draws a little too much water to fish reds on the flats so i was looking at fishing for sheeps. Anyone fish the Jetties or Grillage for them this time of year or am I better off scouting inshore deepwater structure? I know about using fiddlers, but I have red about local guides using oysters. Are they buying oysters or picking up some clusters? Thanx
Wino86, Don’t give up on the reds. You dont need a skinny boat to catch them. Fish areas where you catch them in the other times of the year. I have found at low tide fish close to the bank, real close. As for the sheap’s I have never tried the jetties. Capers isnt to far out on a good day.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
It’s not so much giving up on the reds but rather trying something new. You mentioned capers island. I have fished it before in the surf for bull reds and back behind it for the inshore slam species, but never for sheeps. I’m not asking for spots, but is there structure around capers that have been productive for sheeps? Thanks
I thinks Opps was referring to Capers Reef, not Capers Island. Check this out for info and GPS coordinates for Capers Reef
https://www.dnr.sc.gov/reefguide/artificial_reef?p_location=Central
-Capt. Chris Rapchick
yella bote
no motor
Sheepshead bite is good inshore right now. I’m using the oysters off the structures that I’m fishing. Shuck’em right of the pilings. You can also use the larger barnacles. You can also take a plastic ZipLoc container and shuck some the day before you know your going. Oysters and clams are the bait of choice right now.
Capt. Brian M.Garris
Reel Deal Charters
www.thereeldealcharters.com
www.zmanfishing.com
www.drslick.com
www.haddrellspoint.com
www.fishmaster.com
Unless something has changed in the last couple of weeks, I would definately not consider Caper’s Reef right now. Last time there the bsb were so thick we couldn’t keep a bait down long enough for a sheepshead to have a chance. As we would reel one in, 3 or 4 others would follow it up to the boat.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
I appreciate all the advice fellas and I’ll let ya know how it turns out
Fished Edisto40 this past wednesday, never could get past the bsb’s. Stayed there 2 hours with the ‘logic’ that we would ultimately give all the bsb’s a sore mouth and finally get to the sheeps. Not the case. Probably caught 150 bsb in 2 hours (12-17") and you would still have 8 follow the hooked fish to the surface. Finally said mercy and ran into the nearshore reef and picked up 12 sheeps and a BD. No size to anything really, 2-4# on the sheeps. Out of shear entertainment, we started to see what all we could catch bsb’s on. Caught them 7 drops in a row on a bare hook, caught them on a straw wrapper, and even found they will eat a bojangles biscut wrapper (be sure its from a cajun filet biscut!lol). I would definately stay inshore right now for the sheeps. I have weighed in probably 20 fish this year over 10 pounds here at the shop, and every single one came from inshore. G’Luck!!!
Scott Hammond
Haddrells Point West Ashley
Last time I went to the 4KI with the intent on getting sheeps, the BSB were hanging out underneath scattered weed patches and would take top waters! After you caught 1, the rest would follow and hang by the boat where you could get them to eat fiddlers out of your hand. Caleb took a hook with a couple of feet of line, and was catching 3 lbers, hand-fishing with 2 feet of line. It was incredible and wished I had taken a video camera, but needless to say, I haven’t been back out past nearshore this winter for that reason.
oysters work but come off the hook really easy. There is no casting using oysters. I use fiddlers and have been catching 10-25 sheepshead on each trip this winter. Most fish have been 1-2 lbs but we have been catching at least 1 fish over 5 lbs each trip.
My boat draws 20"+ and I find them. Basically, I plan my day around my boat and where the reds, trout and flounder might be. I try to head out with 4 or 5 spots in mind and hope for the best.
Plenty of spots. Like SF says, plenty of sheeps, too!
Vinman
19.5 Triumph, 115 HP Honda
“Every saint has a past, every sinner a future”
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quote:
Originally posted by saltfisheroysters work but come off the hook really easy. There is no casting using oysters. I use fiddlers and have been catching 10-25 sheepshead on each trip this winter. Most fish have been 1-2 lbs but we have been catching at least 1 fish over 5 lbs each trip.
I tip the hook with a small piece of mashed shrimp to keep the oyster on. No casting though, just a vertical 20’ drop to the botttom. Sheepshead will hit the mashed shrimp as well, you already know that some others may wanna give it a try.
Capt. Brian M.Garris
Reel Deal Charters
www.thereeldealcharters.com
www.zmanfishing.com
www.drslick.com
www.haddrellspoint.com
www.fishmaster.com
So went to haddrells and got more advice on the sheeps-I felt like i should buy the guy lunch after all the knowledge he imparted! the only thing left to do is find some spots where there are sheeps. Thanks for all the advice. If i find sheeps I’ll let y’all know however I bet reds will be the name of the game today. I also thought it was funny how you are required to fish for sheeps with cycle hooks bc they fall in the snapper/porgy category however a friend of the shop stopped in, overhead our conversation and yells out “you can’t catch sheeps with circles!”. I am adamant about following the laws of fish sizes not so much b/c it’s the law but i feel there’s research to back it up so there’s a REASON the law is in place but this law sounds like it’ll be modified soon. Until that time though I might be struggling to set hooks in sheeps-We’ll see…Thanks again for all the advice
Wino86…don’t let the circle hooks get you down, it can definately be done. I was the guy you were speaking with in here yesterday, and what I never got to tell you was that on wednesday when we sheepshead fished, one of our younger employees that I took with me outfished me more than 2 to 1. Now that young man is definately a very good fisherman, but what I was also seeing was that he was using the Owner Mutu light circle hooks in 1/0…but where I would use an in-line (tournament) circle hook, he was using the slightly offset mutu-light style. Maybe he is just that much better than, a very real possibility, but that slightly offset hook may have also made a difference. Just do not set the hook hard with those circles, just slowly come tight on him. The hooks you picked up yesterday from me ARE slightly offset, I just forgot to tell you why I was picking up those hooks for ya. Best of luck with the sheeps, glad to help anytime I can
Scott Hammond
Haddrells Point West Ashley
scott you should cash in on the lunch. med deli close to your office
DEfinetly dont give up on the reds! You dont need the flats ive been getting into several schools of 10 to 30 over slot fish around docks on river and creek bends at low tide.
Get out There!
LOL PeaPod…I was thinking more along the lines of one day instead of lunch I might get delivered a couple fresh fillets off his newly found sheepshead skills:smiley:
Wino86, we are definately just kidding around. Your patronage at this store is all I will ever accept from you or any of my customers. Big Mike does a great job of taking care of me, and he has me here to help and I enjoy it. Tight Lines!
Scott Hammond
Haddrells Point West Ashley
My opinion is the forcing of using circle hooks for sheeps is the WORST thing that could have happened to them. When using soft baits (clams, oysters, mussels), all it takes is a pea size dab on a 1/0-2/0 light Mutu as Scott mentioned and just lift slowly. When the sheep decides to fight back, then he’s done. Absolutely no hook setting at all! You are not gonna catch em all no matter what, but my CHOICE now is to use offset circles instead of j-hooks. BTW, I thought they removed sheeps and spades fron the snapper/grouper complex in January. Is this incorrect?
RADDADDY you are correct…but until I can get a definate answer from one of our Law Enforcement officers or see a public release from the SCDNR pertaining to this issue, I cannot in good faith tell my customers to go ahead and use a J-hook. Quite possible maybe I missed a statement from them on the matter, if so, someone please correct me! But I do agree with you, a circle hook can work much better than what many anglers give them credit for on a sheepshead.
Scott, we never did have our fishing trip for them Sheeps …
Bragging may not bring happiness,
but no man having caught a large fish,
goes home through the alley.
-Anonymous