What is it?
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bgott
Veteran Member
When I was gill netting in Louisiana there was a five star restaurant, that will remain nameless, that we sold black drum to on a regular basis. Black drum was a buck and a half cheaper than Redfish and looks the same skinned and tastes the same, too! When you're dealing with fish there is a whole lot that isn't really what it seems. If you buy shelled crab these days it's more than likely surimi (sp?) which is basically ground up white meat fish formed and colored. They used to make crabmeat by skinning a fish called a sheepshead and wrapping it in cheesecloth and boiling it.
Anonymous Poster
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Yup, dumpling cutter. The richer folks are the smaller the dumplings are. The soup is pretty crappy too when they are rich.
Bird
Rest in Peace
Aah, you're talking my kind of eating now. And yes, I'd just as soon catch and/or eat black drum as red drum (Redfish), and I'd just as soon have sheepshead as either of the drums. In fact, most of my fishing at the coast was going after sheepshead and then would catch an occasional red or black drum. I love'em all; fried, smoked, broiled, blackened, or in Cajun stews.
PitbullMidwest
Platinum Member
You really eat sheepshead? Are we talking about those prehistoric looking things? Up here they're considered junk fish and farmers do everything they can to get them out of their ponds. If caught we toss 'em on the bank for the 'coons.
wroughtn_harv
Super Member
That can't be the sheephead they're talking about. Saltwater sheephead are a trick to catch. And their meat is like all rock fish, delicious.
The first time we hit a bunch of sheephead we were drift fishing off the western Whitehouse outside San Clemente. I was on the bow when something hit my pole and that was that. I was talking about how big and how mean it had to be. A bud at the stern had the same thing happen to him. We eventually cut the lines cause we were tired of the razzing about our rock fish.
The next one that hit my line I instantly turned and fought it to the top. Well fight ain't really appropriate. There was a tussle and then it was like I'd hooked a tire. When we got it to the top and saw what it was one of the guys told us we were in sheephead and the secret to catching them was to not let them get back into the rocks or they'd wedge themselves forever or the line broke, whichever came first.
They are good eating. Physically they look like a buck toothed codfish or rockfish as they call them on the left coast.
The first time we hit a bunch of sheephead we were drift fishing off the western Whitehouse outside San Clemente. I was on the bow when something hit my pole and that was that. I was talking about how big and how mean it had to be. A bud at the stern had the same thing happen to him. We eventually cut the lines cause we were tired of the razzing about our rock fish.
The next one that hit my line I instantly turned and fought it to the top. Well fight ain't really appropriate. There was a tussle and then it was like I'd hooked a tire. When we got it to the top and saw what it was one of the guys told us we were in sheephead and the secret to catching them was to not let them get back into the rocks or they'd wedge themselves forever or the line broke, whichever came first.
They are good eating. Physically they look like a buck toothed codfish or rockfish as they call them on the left coast.
Bird
Rest in Peace
Like Harv said, you must be talking about a different fish if you find them in fresh water. You can see what we're talking about <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=26>here</A>. Incidentally, I agree with nearly everything on that page, except he prefers a 7' rod with 50# line and I used an 8' rod with 30# line. All my fishing for sheepshead has been around Port Aransas, TX, and we either use live shrimp or fiddler craps for bait, let it down right alongside pier pilings, along the rocks on the jetties, or at the bottom over rocky bottom areas. Heavy bodied fish that pull hard; lots of fun. Great bait thieves; if you catch one for every 5 baits you're probably doing good.
And when I first started going to Port Aransas almost 30 years ago, almost no one fished for sheepshead, they were not considered a game fish so there were no restrictions, etc. And now we have a 12" minimum size and 5 fish bag limit./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Dad and I used to have no problem putting 20-40 a day in the freezer and now you're lucky to catch your 5 fish limit. Biggest one I've caught was 7.5# and Dad's biggest was 8.5#.
And when I first started going to Port Aransas almost 30 years ago, almost no one fished for sheepshead, they were not considered a game fish so there were no restrictions, etc. And now we have a 12" minimum size and 5 fish bag limit./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Dad and I used to have no problem putting 20-40 a day in the freezer and now you're lucky to catch your 5 fish limit. Biggest one I've caught was 7.5# and Dad's biggest was 8.5#.
PitbullMidwest
Platinum Member
Different fish altogether. What they call sheepshead around here are, like I said, very pre-historic looking, the head actually looks like the face of a sheep and are very boney. Since I've never heard them called anything but sheepshead, I can't post a picture or even suggest an alternative name. I'll ask around and see if any buddies have a different name for them.
ronjhall
Super Star Member
PitbullMidwest
Here is a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sarep.cornell.edu/Sarep/fish/Sciaenidae/sciaenidae.html>Link</A> to a Freshwater Drum or Sheephead. Do you think we can get the guys from down south to come up here and take some of them away. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Here is a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sarep.cornell.edu/Sarep/fish/Sciaenidae/sciaenidae.html>Link</A> to a Freshwater Drum or Sheephead. Do you think we can get the guys from down south to come up here and take some of them away. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
bgott
Veteran Member
I had to move to Florida with that clear water they have down there to figure out why they like those pilings so much. Sheepshead just love eating barnicles. I got out on a pier down there and could see the bottom twelve feet down. There were sheepshead stacked up and down the pilings. I would drop a hook baited with crab down and hit them in the head with it, drop it in between the fish and the piling. They would just nose it out of the way and go back to the barnicles. Being I was between jobs and that was dinner made it just a little frustrating. 