NICE!!! I wish we had sheepies that big in our canal. I usually waste any dead shrimp left over from the flats and toss 'em into the canal and hope something takes them. they're all pretty small, though.

Sheepies are great and you'll run into the occasional black drum

Are you using the correct tool to clean them?

nice fish

What an awesome sheephead. I bet he was fun to bring in!
Joey

Sheepshead are not that hard to clean once you get the hang of it. I like to use an Old Hickory style knife. The meat is very good.

I'm just curious if there is a minimum size on these things and if so,what and also what is the bag limit?I went offshore for the first time last year(first time fishing the salt period) and I'm kinda new to all this.But man am I hooked,wished I lived closer!

never cought them, but i plan on gettin some soon! figure id just fellet them like a bluegill, a real big bluegill!! and fry em up just the same!!

You can find size and bag limits on the TPWD site.

Sheepshead, Bag Limit 5, minimum length 14 �No limit, g

g - Sheepshead: Special Regulation: Beginning on Sept. 1, 2008, the length limit will be 14 inches. Beginning on Sept. 1, 2009, the length limit will be 15 inches.

Awesome size there bud!!

Like catching them 'convict fish' for sure! The grill, fry and bake great, and also are fantastic in gumbo!

Usually can hammer 'em along the jetty rocks with fiddler crabs and they'll also hit hermit crabs too...just got to take them out of their shell house.

Are sheepies considered a game fish? Is it legal to use them for shark bait? I heard somewhere that they make good shark bait and I have wondered if it is legal.

I'm in Waco and I am planning a trip to Matagorda soon and then a little later to Port A. I will be surf fishing both trips. Now that I found this thread the first thing I am going to do is run arounf the beach like a lunatic catches me some fiddler crabs.

They are not a game fish, however you must use only a legal size sheepshead for bait. You may be thinking about the Atlantic Spadefish, since it resembles a sheepshead but is a rather bloody fish and they are used for shark fishing. I wouldn't use a sheepshead for shark fishing, for their dorsal and anal spines for one and the taste of the meat for another!

Spadefish taste exceptional, and would rather use a bonita or crevalle jack for shark bait.

Game Fish (includes hybrids or subspecies of fish on this list):

Bass: Guadalupe, largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, striped, white, yellow
Catfish: blue, channel, flathead
Cobia
Crappie: black, white
Mackerel: king, Spanish
Marlin: blue, white
Pickerel
Red drum
Sailfish
Sauger
Seatrout, spotted
Sharks
Snook
Spearfish, longbill
Swordfish, broadbill
Tarpon
Tripletail
Trout: brown, rainbow
Wahoo
Walleye

and as of 08 you can keep 1 over 52 inches but why would you want to oops I thought we were talking black drum

Great looking fish. Congrats on the catch.

Where are some good jetty's for them? Do any guides in TX persue them?

They fight good and they taste even better. I would put them on par with just about any inshore fish you can catch as far as taste. They are a booger to clean and their meat to body size ratio isn't that great. So if you are used to catching crappie and getting a decent fillet from it, you might be surprised to find that the seemingly nice sized Sheepshead doesn't have the same body style.