With the water temp dropping I have been focusing on sheepshead fishing a lot more. Lately been fishing on the old piers on the NWS. I have caught many each trip but problem is I am having trouble catching quality fish. I know they are there thanks to gopro and some rope but after 10 or so trips I have only managed 1 over 18". Any tips on what can do to improve hook ups and quality of fish I am catching?
I am currently using combination of fiddlers, larger mud crabs, and barnacles.
Rod: 10-20 St. Croix
Reel: Calcutta 201B with 30lb power pro
Using 30lb 12" mono leader with smaller mosquito hooks
Carolina rig with .5oz - 2oz pending current at time fishing.
Use oysters for the big sheeps. Gather some and shuck them for your bait . Scrape the oysters and barnacles off the pilings as a chum slick. Hook a big oyster on a stout size 1/0 Gamakatsu hook and hang on.
Walmart sells oysters Bo. Or any seafood store. Fresh is best. I like em slimy. Some people microwave them a little to toughen them up and get them to stay on the hook better…
Shorten your leader to 6 inches. Use 3/0 Owner cutting point hook for larger sheeps. 20 foot is a good depth for keepers. Make sure your bait is off the bottom so you can feel the bite. I also prefer my drag a lil tighter than normal so you dont get broke off. Good luck.
I probably don’t know what I am talking about, but it seems when I catch the larger ones, the bite is almost non-existent. In other words, watch where your line touches the water and you will see the line move in an odd direction (Cross-tide or against tide). That is the bite. Hope this helps
I probably don’t know what I am talking about, but it seems when I catch the larger ones, the bite is almost non-existent. In other words, watch where your line touches the water and you will see the line move in an odd direction (Cross-tide or against tide). That is the bite. Hope this helps
That’s a pro-tip right there. The biguns don’t get that way by being stupid.
Ya I have ran into a few drops where slight bump before hits bottom and o hey no bait lol. Still learning but have been catching quite a few keepers, the biguns just keep avoiding me, I will get the 10+ before end season though! Also, how do you recommend hooking whole mussels? Running hook through lip and having tip barely sticking out? I have hear of people drilling small holes to put hook through even.
Another sheeps question:
When fishing the jetties, and if you like your boat, how close to the rocks are you getting if you don’t have a trolling motor?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you want to be trying to fish vertically, so assuming you’re anchored 15 feet (or whatever) off the rocks, with one anchor in the sand and a brick in the rocks, you’re essentially fishing the rocks directly beneath the boat, which may be 10-15 feet below you. You’re not really trying to fish the rocks that you see that create the ‘mountain peak’ of what most of us see visually at the water line.
Do people also fish a fiddler under a cork and cast it up towards the more visable rocks or is the bite too subtle to detect with a float?
Small live shrimp under a cork near the rocks that have water flowing thru or over, and a really light Carolina rig, just enough to sink thru the strike zone but still get carried with the current is how I like to fish rocks or heavy structure, any live or really fresh bait works. Shuck a pint of oysters, mussels or clams then strain and salt them and they will stay on the hook a lot better, save the juice and shells to throw in to recycle the shells and chum the waters.
I get closer to the rocks than most folks are comfortable with. You can fish the length of the boat that way, but you have to careful and vigilant. I also toss the anchor outside of the drop-off and back in to the rocks. Let your line down until it touches rocks, let it sit a second and SLOWLY start to lift (not reel), if you feel like it is catching on the rocks, keep lifting slowly… it will set itself. Otherwise your bait and the fish are already gone. Sometimes you catch rocks and sometimes you catch nice fish.
