Nobody wants to be a convict. However, the sheepshead is nicknamed the “Convict Fish,” and he is most wanted by anglers.
His black vertical stripes resemble the uniform worn by prisoners in old-time movies, and his ability to steal the bait off your hook — without you knowing it — makes us want to send him to jail.
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The sheepshead is one of the best-eating fish we can catch within sight of land, or even standing on land. Their diet consists primarily of shellfish, like crabs, barnacles and shrimp. This translates directly to a fish that is as delicious on the plate as it is complicated to catch.
It takes specialized techniques and some extra knowledge of their habits and preferred habitat to catch them, so a lot of casual anglers may never catch one. Hopefully we can help you change that if you never have. Their pursuit is worthwhile because they are strong fighters, in addition to their table qualities, and it takes some doing to get them.
After the aforementioned stripes, the next thing most people will notice upon seeing one for the first time is the strange teeth that sheepshead possess. They have straight, up- and down-aligned teeth that resemble the mouth of a land-based herbivore — like a sheep, for example. These teeth are a perfect adaptation for the feeding technique they use.
Sheepshead will come up to a rock, piling or other hard structure, and use those straight teeth to crunch barnacles directly off the surface. If you look in further, you will also see hard knobby structure on the roof of the mouth. These are called crushers. Any crustacean that is unlucky enough to find its way in front of a sheepshead will find itself sucked back to them and be disposed of in a way that makes it easy to swallow.
Sheepies also have extremely long pectoral fins and a broad tail. This enables them to be strong swimmers and hold themselves in place as they patrol up and down on hard structure with a strong current running.
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These adaptations inform our method of fishing for them. We need to be able to present a crustacean bait in such a manner as to get it in front of them as they swim up and down a piece of structure, and to feel the often-subtle bites.
Best baits are fiddler crabs, sand fleas, and, if you can get them, sea urchins. Fiddlers can be obtained on hard packed mud flats at low tide. All the little holes are made by fiddler crabs. Walk along a low tide and quickly pick them up. Don’t worry too much about the claws, they don’t really hurt.
Catch sand fleas at the beach with a sand flea rake pulled through the sand right in the zone where the waves come in and recede.
Sea urchins have to be purchased at a bait shop, if they have them.
There are two popular ways to rig. First is with a Carolina Rig and size 1 or 1/0 bait hook. Use a 30-pound test monofilament leader and keep it less than 18 inches long. The other way is with a bait on a jig head. There are a couple different brands of bait jigs, a popular one is called the Bait Sweeper. The idea is to get the bait to the bottom and have precise control of where it is. Use a rod that is light enough for you to be able to feel the slightest bite, but just heavy enough to keep your prize out of the rocks or pilings. I like to use a rod with 15- or 20-pound test braided line.
Drop the bait to the bottom as close to the structure as you can. Now slowly lift and drop down on a tight line. This movement will not only alert them to the presence of your bait, but also allow you to feel the lightest change in weight on your line. As soon as you feel anything different, set the hook quickly. Use the rod to lift the fish away from the bottom.
Most you catch will be under 3 pounds and will try hard but not be able to get back down. I have caught a few in my life over 7 pounds. The fight in those was as much like a grouper as anything else. You’ll know right away and they will stay down and try to get you wrapped up. They are formidable.
When you get them in, watch out for the spines they have on their dorsal, ventral and pectoral fins. I dropped one on my foot one time and the spine went right into my toe. That hurt a bit.
Keep a couple to provide some delicious meals. Don’t overdo it. Filet them and take the skin off. The bones are very strong so you will have to work around them. The best way to cook them is with a method called pan roasting. Get your skillet out and melt some butter over medium heat. When it is just barely sizzling, take a piece of meat that you have seasoned with salt and pepper and any other spice mix you like (the one named after a bay that’s not young is great here). Drop the filet in and leave it alone. Don’t move it around. Don’t flip it. Leave it on that side until you can see the opaque coloration on the side come up to just past two-thirds of the way up the side. At this point it will be ready to flip.
You will have a nice brown crust on the side that’s been down. No need to add flour or anything. Put a little more butter in the pan. When you can look at the side and see that the opacity covers the entire side of the filet, squeeze a lemon half into the pan. Baste the lemon butter over the top a few times. Take it out. Put a splash of white wine in the pan and let it sizzle. After a minute take it off the heat and pour the liquid that’s left over the top of the fish.
You just made a dish they’d charge $30 for in a nice restaurant.
Sheepshead should be available all through the season for us in the Carolinas. Use some specialized tactics and see what you can do.
