I am planning to fish for sheephead in march or april next year.. When is the best time to catch them????

In my experience the best time is winter. When you get clear water at the piers and jetties. You can get them with live shrimp at that time. The piggies won't be as active in stealing shrimp. Seems the sheephead are less picky then. Maybe less barnacles to feed on? Of course any time of the year is good if you have live crabs. Fiddlers are best but nothing beats baby blue crabs or the flowery ones that float in on clumps of sargassum.

Thanks cuda... I used to go during the spawn and fish around the Fina docks... Just couldn't remember the best time... Trying to catch good weather and good fishin' at the same time...

the fina docks get good around feb and march. sometimes earlier depending on the year. they are at the jetties good by the 1st of january.

what part of the country you fishing, upper texas,central, are southern

Thanks Tufffish... It's been years since I've been to the coast... We have caught sheeps at the fina docks and at the jetties... The best trip, some 20 years ago, was end of feb first of march... Caught limits of trout & sheeps on no. jetty... But too tricky to miss cold fronts from 500 miles away... May try mid march, but spring break hurts an old fisherman...:}

Ditto on what cuda says. Those little crabs are like chocolate bon-bons to the sheeps. And they seem to bite well even when other fish shut down with the cold fronts.

If I were to choose the best time for Sheepshead, I'd say late march or early April. The weather is a "little" more predictable, and I've had the best results. Feb is too spotty for me, and March is when things start picking up.

Others have different experience, I'm sure.
Tim

Thanks guys for the good info.... I will watch the weather and pray for calm sea... God Bless

You going for the catchn and fight other than that pain in the azz to clean and about the fishiest tasteing. plus them dorsal fins are a bitch,. and some choppers on em to boot ..Bill

Bill I had rather have them than red's or trout any day .

This time of year I always catch them in the hot water outfall canal from the power plant on North Sabine . Just fish between the front's and it's easy fishing .

I'm going for flavor... They are alot of fun to catch and one of my favorite fish to eat... Yes the fins are deadly and you don't dare lipum', but everyone I know loves the taste... ft worth, you might otta give'm another try... You might have gotten a bad batch... ha

I think they are about the best tasting fish you'll catch in the gulf. Yes , hard to clean and stingy with the meat, but man it's good.

I also love sheephead. I think they are great tasting. We blacken them or use the blackening seasoning and bake them. Excellent. I dont stick my fingers in any saltwater fish's mouth. As far as cleaning, I think they are the easiest. Just run along the back bone and peel and run your knife along the ribs. Dont try to cut the bones. And I leave them on the half shell. It takes no time to clean them like that. Just like cutting a backstrap out of a deer, just little cuts along the bones and keep pulling.

I remember quite a few years ago we were wade fishing for flounder late in winter with live shrimp. Did not catch a fish as it was almost Christmas and that year the run was pretty much over at that time. Not wanting to waste the bait, we went to 91st pier to try for sheepshead. We caught and released so many it was not funny. Easily over 40 fish between the 2 of us. We left them biting. It was one of those rare winter days that was cold, calm and clear, and the surf was flat. You could almost see the coke cans on the bottom at the T-Head.

Thanks everyone for the posts .... Makes me want to load up and head for the coast... As we get older memories are "almost" as fun as being there...Almost.... God Bless

BTW..I have always wondered when they spawn?

Used to boil them in crab boil. Tastes just like crab meat.

Spro... Just heard that at Southwest Parts???? Use cracker crumbs in the batter and they have a hint of oyster flavor.... Very nice... will try the crab boil next time also....

i love mine fried along side some catfish, but that crab boil sound kinda good. i've actually caught sheeps on beetle spins. go figure...

I see that the Sheepshead like to hang around the rock or pilings in most areas. Is current much of an attractant for them? Do they hang at any prefered depth at different water temps? Will they bite on any gulp or does it have to be live, or fresh dead bait?

For me, it's like fishing for giant sunfish. Just want to get better at it. Need some help.

I haven't really ever noticed a current issue with them. We only fish for them Thanksgiving through New Years in Port A, but can always catch 30-50 each day on small pieces of dead shrimp or smaller livies. Have not tried articficals, but don't suspect they work too ofte due to their mouths. Keepers are tough to come by at times though. There are millions of 13 inchers out there...may need a slot limit for them.

Just got back from Port O........... Fished the jetties and caught 4 reds, 1 trout and all the sheephead you want. They hit about every cast. Freelining Shrimp

Any size to the Sheeps? Were you freelining live or dead shrimp? Shore or from boat? Thanks.

I'd say all but a few were keepers. It didn't seem to matter much live or dead. The reds were caught on live though. We pretty much got a bite on every cast all day. It was fun.