The big inlet jetties at the mouth of the St. Johns River are about as well known a fishing spot as there is in Northeast Florida. Everything from kingfish to flounder are taken near the massive boulders that line the rivermouth where it enters the Atlantic Ocean. But perhaps the most popular fish targeted at the rocks are sheepshead, which are available almost year-round, and are fished for almost daily by legions of anglers.

When fiddlers aren't around, small shrimp chunks lure big sheepshead.

So when Capt. Jim Hammond told me about the great sheepshead action he was enjoying at the inlet jetties, I pretty much knew the drill—or at least I thought I did.

“You never fished sheepshead there like I catch ’em there,” he confidently told me. “I’m hammerin’ sheepshead that never see another baited hook because I’m working spots other guys don’t even know about.”

That’s all the tempting I needed.

Friend Spence Petros and I joined Hammond that next morning for a go at his personal sheepshead spots—on a spring Saturday morning when dozens of boats were sure to be out-and-about, hoping to find some oversize, good-eating, stripe-sided fish.

We launched Hammond’s boat off Heckscher Drive on the river’s north side, and made the familiar run east to the mouth of the St. Johns. We passed a dozen jetty spots where over the years friends and I had scored well on sheepshead in standard rock-fishing fashion. In the past we moved in close to jetties, found a sheltered, quiet spot near rocks and lowered an anchor. Then with long rods (sometimes canepoles) we reached out toward the boulders and lowered fiddler crab baits on egg-sinker fishfinder rigs to the bottom.

Not this day. When we were about midway down the north side of the south jetties, Hammond ran the boat well away from the rocks. But when he slowed his skiff he didn’t turn toward the boulders, as I’d expected. Instead, he looked to shore for a landmark, then began circling in open water, eyes glued to his depthfinder.

“When they built the jetties, a lot of big boulders rolled off the straight line of rocks they were sinking,” Hammond explained, his eyes never leaving the fathometer. “Those boulders aren’t tight to the jetties, but are out in 15 to 30 feet of water—far from the visible wall of rocks. Sheepshead hold and feed around those isolated deep boulders as well as they do near above-water jetty rocks. But sheepshead near deepwater boulders are not as skittish as those close to the jetties. Not only are they easier to catch, they’re often bigger, too.”

Hammond soon located his deep rocks marked with a depthfinder, rising several feet off the river floor in about 15 feet of water. We were 30 yards from the south jetties, farther than other boats whose fishermen were busy catching 2-pounders.

Anchoring for any sheepshead fishing can be tricky. Positioning a boat perfectly for bait presentation in wind and strong current along imposing rocks can be a trying endeavor. In deep, open water it’s safer but more difficult, since the spot you’re hoping to fish isn’t visible. In many ways it’s like anchoring a boat for grouper or snapper on a ledge or wreck. You find the spot, then move the boat upcurrent far enough that when you toss an anchor, it holds. Let out anchor line until you mark the structure—deep rocks in the case of jetty sheepshead. Then pull up a bit on the anchor line and tie off. You may need to haul in some line so that you’re upcurrent of the spot. The goal is to fish off the stern.

Bigger "sheepie" caught away from main line of rocks and other boats.

Hammond’s fishfinder marked a big rock on bottom, but no fish were showing. That’s often the case in shallow water, since a sonar cone is only a few feet wide and doesn’t completely cover even a modest-size jetty rock.

“I don’t look for sheepshead with my fathometer, I just want to pinpoint isolated deep rocks,” Jim said as he broke out rods and bait. “If there are sheepshead down there, we’ll soon know.”

With revolving-spool reels, and standard 2-ounce fishfinder rigs, we were soon bouncing fiddler crab baits on bottom.