Sheepshead Fishing Tips
Sheepshead are a Favorite Winter Time Catch in Daytona Beach!
Winter is prime time for catching Sheepshead in Daytona Beach. Sheepshead can be caught year round in Daytona Beach but are especially plentiful inshore during the winter, particularly near Ponce Inlet. Every winter, Captain Ron catches plenty of Sheepshead on his Daytona Beach Inshore Fishing Charters and Nearshore Fishing Charters.
Below are Captain Ron’s recommendations for fishing for Sheepshead.
Captain Ron’s Fishing Tips! Fishing For Sheepshead.
Sheepshead mouths are tough as nails because of the makeup of their teeth, which look a lot like human teeth. A hard hookset is needed to keep these fish on the end of your line. Bait selection varies when dealing with sheepshead. Fiddler crabs or mud crabs are your best bet. Sand fleas, barnacles and small pieces of shrimp will also work.
Getting a fiddler on your hook is simple. I prefer a smaller hook, maybe a #1 or #2 , a live bait type hook is best. Push the hook into the base of a leg, and out either the top or the bottom shell. Try to get the barb outside the crab, with the point hidden among all those legs.
Target sheepshead anywhere there is good structure. Bridges, docks, seawalls and jetty areas that are encrusted with barnacles are a good place. But sheepshead can also be found near jetties or rock outcroppings, on the beach or on the edges of sandbars.
For your leader, use a 3-foot section of 20-pound monofilament and attach it to your main line with a swivel. Before you attach the hook, slide on a 1-ounce egg sinker to help keep your bait steady in the current. For a hook, choose a No.1 live bait hook that is extremely sharp. If you’re having trouble hooking up, step it down a size or two. Finish the rig by attaching a small slipshot six inches above the hook. This allows the egg sinker to come down closer to the hook and anchor your bait in the water without hindering a hookset. If you are fishing where there isn’t much current, you can easily get away with just using the splitshot and not the egg sinker.
“Go Catch ‘em!”
Captain Ron
Tightline Fishing Charters
