Sheepshead City

February should be considered official sheepshead month, because it’s now that they’re easiest to catch. Hungry and ready to spawn. And still plentiful enough, in places not covered up by anglers on foot. It’s the remote areas reachable only by boat, where these fish swarm in good numbers. And there is plenty for all: Texas installed a strict bag limit on these “striped bandits” decades ago, and stocks of these tasty fish have held up well.

If you want to catch 30 or more “barnacle snappers” on a single tide, you will need a boat, shrimp and a little decent winter weather; preferably a light south breeze with an incoming tide. Catch as many as you want, but keep only five of the bigger fish with thicker fillets. During this sort of action, a few bonus slot redfish or black drum often show up.

Where are most of these structure-loving sheepshead located? No secret there, the nearest rock jetties, which are covered with marine growth, especially barnacles. The boat-only jetties are best, since they’re not even fished during bad weather. Sabine, Galveston and Port O’Connor jetties should rank highest, because they require a boat and anchoring skills. Some anglers wince at the thought of anchoring expensive boats near unforgiving granite in waves and current, but that’s where these fish are ganged up. It should be noted that the Galveston jetties can accommodate rock-walkers out for some distance, but the real action is farther out, miles offshore. It’s the longest jetty in the world, so they say. And a year-long home to countless sheepshead.

Shrimp are scarce in the dead of winter and that may explain why sheepshead won’t hesitate to grab even the frozen variety. We’ve never actually bought live shrimp for these winter trips, just bought a pound or two of frozen and tipped our jigs with small pieces. Caught a few of these fish with oyster meat too, since they feed on shellfish.

Years ago while low on bait at the Sabine jetties, we’d run our jonboat off a ways and approach a small, local wooden shrimpboat we’d seen trawling. We would inquire about shrimp and the old man usually gave us a pound or two of what he called rock shrimp, which were small and tough as freshwater crawfish.Real rock shrimp live in depths of about 200 feet, so I’m not sure what this guy was trawling up in only 12 feet of water. Maybe a lesser species. They were small and banded with hard shells, but sheepshead were crazy about them. We’d fill up an 86-quart Igloo with sheeps and maybe a couple of drum and redfish. Guaranteed action, in decent weather.

It was generally a mistake to fish out there during a northwest wind in chilly weather, blue skies and muddy, outgoing tide. We got few bites while using our usual technique, which was slow-bumping 3/8-ounce jigheads tipped with shrimp through the shallower rocks only six to ten feet down. We didn’t fish deeper back then, which is probably where the fish were in that weather. In later years while living in Port O’Connor, we learned to anchor in 20 feet of water with a rocky bottom, and fished vertically. The fish just seemed to prefer that depth on most days. Of course we needed a depth finder, which is a useful tool, great for marking oversized rock humps or holes sometimes covered with fish.

Our winter sheepshead all weighed from two to five pounds, nothing huge, just steady action and (with the bigger fish) some tasty fillets. Apparently the bigger sheepshead arrive later. Our biggest ever was caught late in March, weighing 10-pounds and 10-ounces, which gobbled down a four-inch, softshell blue crab. Caught on the only rod in our boat that day that carried a small J-hook. All other rods were armed with 16/0 circle hooks meant for big black drum—a big hook that would never snag sheepshead.

Capt. Willie Wimmer, based out of Galveston, has his own opinions on giant sheepshead, after seeing many of them during a single morning at the jetties.

And long after Spring Break was over…

“We get the really big ones in April,” says Wimmer. “These huge breeder sheepshead arrive from offshore and hang around the ends of the jetties, just before trout season. When we caught the 15-pounder, it was chilly that morning and then the sun warmed things up. There was clear, calm green water. We were using 50-pound braid with 30-pound Fluorocarbon leaders, and small treble hooks. Big live hopper shrimp were best, when you can find them. We were releasing the sheepshead, just keeping occasional redfish. Tracy Smith from the Dickinson area cranked up this huge sheepshead. I thought it might be a state record, so we kept it.

“It was over 15 pounds on my Boga grip, so we drove around trying to find a certified scale. At a fish market, it weighed 15.38 pounds and was 29 inches long. Then Tracy said she didn’t want to bother with applying for the record. That fish has been in my freezer for two years. I plan on having it mounted, but still haven’t.”

The current state record was a ponderous 15.25 pounds from the Lower Laguna Madre, almost 16 years ago.

Wimmer continued: “The big ones were on the Galveston jetties that week. We could look down in the rocks and see them. We were releasing 10-pounders. My buddy weighed a 14-pounder the day before. By summer, these big sheeps are dispersed in the bays and can be caught in the marinas where all that structure is available. Fish for them early in the morning when it’s quiet before the day’s commotions begin. I’ve seen fish that would easily go 10 pounds during summer, when I’m walking the dock early and the water isn’t murked up.”

Amen to that. After catching a big sheepshead from a marina dock during my youth, I’m still convinced the big ones prefer a quiet marina or canal behind private homes during summer, away from predators and current. They’re harvesting the year’s new growth of barnacles and small crabs.

Sheepshead can be caught during summer of course, but I’ve been lucky to see maybe one during the entire season. Last summer was a banner year because twice we caught sheepshead in near-90⁰ water. The first actually hit a topwater Chug Bug on shallow flats, following the lure for more than 50 feet before grabbing the rear treble hook that was covered in shiny tinsel.

The second fish was caught with a live, two-inch blue crab. We’d seen sheepshead cruising up and down a dock, hunting for something, and so when a small blue crab passed by in the current, we netted it. Eased a number 2 J-hook through the base of its back flipper, keeping the fretful crab alive, and the very next sheepshead, a four-pounder, inhaled it. Strangely, other sheepshead at the same dock spooked when we eased a weightless live shrimp 10 feet in front of them.

Catching summer sheepshead during the day requires finesse and luck. But not so in February, where they can swarm over a passing shrimp.And, as we all know, these fish are better on the table than trout—just not so easy to clean. A good electric knife and a little patience, that’s the ticket to a fine meal of sheepshead.