Catch the Convicts: How to Put Bait-Stealing Sheepshead in the Cooler

The winter months bring herds of sheep to Florida’s shallow inshore waters and no, I am not talking about the sheep you count to fall asleep. The sheep we are after are familiar fish that look more like jail birds. These distinctively black-and-white striped fish are commonly known as sheepshead or to some, convicts.

Sheepshead are a mild fish known to be a great option for people who like their fish to be light in flavor.

Despite its criminal appearance, spiky fins and crooked teeth, the sheepshead is a fish with delicate and flaky meat that lends itself to a variety of recipes. Besides that, they are challenging and fun to catch. Sheepshead are great fish all around.

They’re members of the porgy family and range widely around Florida, from shallow backwaters to offshore reefs in 50 or 60 feet of water. Maximum size is upwards of 15 pounds—though 7 or 8 pounds is considered an excellent catch by most anglers.

Appropriate for their prison uniform coloration, sheepshead are notorious bait thieves, nibbling at baits, frequently cleaning hooks before the unwary angler’s sinker even reaches the bottom.

Winter is perhaps the best season to fish for sheepshead around Florida. Not only are sheepshead far more cold-tolerant than many other coastal fishes—such as snapper, snook and seatrout—but they tend to bunch up this time of year.

In Northeast Florida, where I live, we typically fish for sheepshead in the inlet areas along rocky structure. They are also found under docks and bridges, where they circle pilings and other vertical structures, browsing on barnacles and small crabs. Fiddler crabs, fresh shrimp and sand fleas are three of the more popular baits for catching these fish.

Tips and Tricks

To begin with, in most waters, you will want to use light to medium tackle. An inshore combo with 15-pound braided line is a good choice. The braid is sensitive, relaying the feel of a sheepshead’s light bite. The lack of stretch in the braided line is also very good for setting the hook. You will want to use a light enough weight to get your bait to the bottom but also nothing too large, as you don’t want to spook the fish. We commonly fish a small egg sinker and a 1/0 J-hook on 15-pound braid with fiddler crab baits, hooking the crab through a back leg hole. We use about 12 inches of 25-pound fluorocarbon leader.

There are also specialty sheepshead jigs on the market, with a hook mounted to the lead with a ring, so the hook can swing freely. Swing jigs, they are sometimes called. Other options include fixed-hook jigs like the Bottom Sweeper Jigs, developed by Capt. Dan Schafer. Schafer’s jigs are symmetrically designed to resist roll-over, with excellent front to rear balance. The Sweeper drops quickly, glides over structure, and stays in place in a rushing tide, good characteristics for sheepshead bait presentation.

In the last few years, sandfleas have been a popular bait of choice for sheepshead when fiddler crabs are not available. Some anglers have even ventured to use earth worms for bait. Various marine tube worms are another option.

As already mentioned, hooking sheepshead can be tricky because of their teeth. A good method is to lower your bait quickly, let your weight hit the bottom, and crank up one or two times from the bottom. As soon as you feel the littlest nibble, pull up and reel.

What is the best bait to use for catching sheepshead? Depends on whom you ask. Captain Dominic Anderson of Saint Augustine Fishing Charters says, “Do not be afraid to get creative with bait. Fiddlers and mud crabs work great, but sandfleas are my go-to. If all else fails, small shrimp can be used as well.”

Make sure that you bring both a measuring device and a landing net. Sheepshead have large spiny dorsal and anal fins, so you will want to net them at the side of the boat and be extra careful when unhooking them. A pair of pliers may be used to help remove the hook from their mouths. With their rows of square, human-like teeth, they’re tough to hook—and equally tough to unhook.

Another thing to keep in mind is the tide and your timing. Be sure to check your local tide tables for high tide and low tide. We try to get to the spot we know we would like to fish at an hour before slack tide and fish through the tide change. Ideally you want minimal current or tidal movement for the fish to bite. Keep in mind that your location matters. These fish love rocky structures like inlets or various reef bottoms. This will increase your possibility of snagging, too.

It is also common for people to chum for sheepshead using oysters or barnacles. Oysters have seasonal harvest restrictions in Florida, so make sure you are up to date on that information per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) recreational regulations before harvesting any shellfish. Barnacles, however, do not have a season or limit and may be harvested any time.

A good method for harvesting barnacles is a shovel and a bucket during low tide. While many docks and pilings have barnacles and crustaceans growing on them, it is important to only take barnacles from lawfully accessible public shores or other places where you have permission to scrape them. You can then place your chum into a mesh bag and tie it off the side of your boat to attract the fish.

What are you going to do with all these fish once you have caught them? Well, that answer is simple, you are going to eat them. Sheepshead are mild in flavor and can be used in a variety of recipes.

Our go-to for a simple and easy sheepshead meal is to coat the fillets in our favorite House Autry fish fry and fry them up in some oil on the stove top. Another special touch, datil pink sauce! Saint Augustine is home to the datil pepper plant, which grows some of the sweetest and spiciest peppers you have ever tasted. With a slightly fruity tang and the spice of a habanero, it is a popular pepper here in Northeast Florida, said to have been brought here by the Minorcans in the 18th century. We like to eat this sweet and spicy pepper in its own special sauce recipe. When you mix the datil sauce with some mayo, you have what the locals know as datil pink sauce, and it is a delicious addition to any fried fish.

If you want to plan a sheepshead fishing trip this winter in the Northeast Florida area, contact Capt. Dominic Anderson of St. Augustine Fishing Charters, (904) 962-6184.

Sheepshead Limits

In Florida, sheepshead have a recreational minimum size limit of 12 inches and a daily bag limit of 8 per person. In the months of March and April, there is a recreational vessel limit of 50 fish (inclusive of individual bag limits).

As of the last FWC stock assessment in 2017, sheepshead were not considered overfished or undergoing overfishing. But many veteran anglers around the state were pleased to see the bag limits tightened, effective 2018, to help ensure the long-term sustainability of a great fishery accessible to so many, in so many parts of Florida. The FWC is currently monitoring what appears to be a decrease in the number of sub-juvenile fish, but otherwise has indicated a generally optimistic view of the present sheepshead fishery.

“The FWC continues to monitor the recreational sheepshead fishery following the implementation of new regulations,” reports Erika Burgess, an FWC fishery management analyst based in Jacksonville. “We are not currently concerned about the state of the fishery and are not considering changes to sheepshead regulations at this time, but we always welcome feedback from stakeholders regarding their experience with the sheepshead fishery.”

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• This article was featured in the February 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe.

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