How About Those Sheepshead On
The Sandbars
This the month that you can have more fun than
you can imagine, catching sheepshead on the sandbars or the shallow spots in
the inlets and sounds.
For those of you out there that are like me,
unable to catch good numbers of sheepshead in the rocks using fiddlers, here
is your chance to catch a box of these hard tugging tasty fish.
I start by purchasing a few dozen clams, the
bigger, the better. Put these in your cooler with a bag of ice, so they do
not spoil. Bring something to break them open, like a small hammer or
anything that you can smack them with to crack open the shell. You will also
need a not very sharp knife. I use a dull knife to scrape the meat out and
with a dull knife, if you slip and get your flesh, you wont cut yourself
like you would with your sharp filet knife. I also bring a small cutting
board to cut the clam meat into small pieces. I like a piece about 3/4 by
3/4 of an inch. When cutting the meat try to cut it so you have some of the
foot on each piece. The foot is a half moon shaped piece of the meat that is
pretty tough.
The tackle will consist of about four Shakespeare
seven foot medium to light action rods, Pflueger Trion bait cast reels, 15
pound test Cajun Red line, a barrel swivel, a 1 to 3 ounce egg sinker, a 2
foot piece of 20 pound test Cajun Red line as the leader and a Daichii #4
wide gap hook.
Because you will be fishing in water that is
almost free of anything to get tangled up on or to cut you line, you can
scale down to light tackle. With the light tackle, you get the maximum
enjoyment in angling the fish. If you do this, remember, you are fishing
light line with a small hook, so back off of your drag to give the fish a
chance to SCREAM line from the reel. I love it when I hook a 10 plus pound
sheepshead and it is screaming line from the spool. I am getting chill bumps
just thinking about this.
Now that we have our bait and all of our tackle
ready, we need to know where to go to get some. In the deeper inlets, look
for places on the channel edge that is sandy. I like a water depth in the
Mayport area of 15 to 35 feet. In sounds that might not have water that
deep, fish in about 10 to 15 feet on the edge of sandbars. If you can find a
bar that has deep water around it, try fishing on the down current side.
I send out as many rods as I can fish, place them
in the rod holders on wait for the rod tip to bend over. DO NOT rare back
and set the hook. When the rod starts to bend over, pick up the rod, if the
fish is there, the rod will feel heavy. If you feel this heavy felling, JUST
turn the handle as you slowly lift up on the rod. If the fish is still
chewing on the clam, you will have it hooked. Once hooked you will have a
battle that you will remember for a while.
One thing I forgot, you will need a pair of
needle nose pliers to retrieve your hook, unless you don't mind sticking
your fingers in a mouth that can separate your fingers from your hand.
These are the breeders so only keep a few and put
some back so you will be able to have this same fun in the years to come.
A nice Sheepshead landed and ready for the box.
John Harrison with a nice sandbar sheepshead
The Flounder have turned on pretty good, with big
numbers coming from the creek mouths and edges of rock piles. I have done
very well with an Exude RT Slug, fished on a Carolina rig. I use a 5/0
X-Point worm hook in the RT Slug and a 20 pound test Cajun Red line leader
with a 1/2 to 1 ounce egg sinker. I chunk it where I think Mr. Flat fish
would lay up looking for a meal and work it along the bottom. The bite is
nothing like using a live bait. It is a slam dunk, I gotta have it bite.
Don't be afraid to rare back and set the hook.
Lots of trout showing up, one day all nice fish
the next all 12 inchers. Watch out for the blue fish, they are on fire and
will destroy all of your soft plastics and relieve you of your hard plastic
lures that get bit on the monofilament.
Reds in the creeks and river are hitting pretty
good. Try shrimp, mullet, mud minnows or a crank bait that rattles like the
gold and black Provoker or put a glass rattle in your soft plastic. I like
the Exude Dart rigged weedless. You can slip a glass rattle in this bait and
it makes a world of difference.
Raymond McCauley with a nice Red caught on a
Straight Jacket
Lots of Mahi, Wahoo and a few Tuna being caught
offshore on the edge of the stream. I like a green chartreuse color Island
lure for the Mahi and the new electric red and black Island lure for the
Wahoo. Try a Sea Striker Cedar Plug for the Tuna.
Remember, moms and dads, take you kids fishing
and you will make a positive difference in their lives.
Good Fishing
Capt. Jim Hammond
