It is suspected that the crab – which was not indigenous to the United States – made its way here through the bilge systems of ships, and then from there to the northeast corner of our country via similar means. The Asian crab has been on the jetties of New Jersey and New York since 1988 when it was documented by biology professor John McDermott of Franklin-Marshall College of Pennsylvania while on a field trip with students in Townsend’s Inlet in South Jersey. Florida boaters have long been catching sheepshead off of structure far off Florida’s coast, but down there the water stays warm on offshore structure.įood availability may also provide a logical explanation as to why the northeast sheepshead stays inshore and the Asian shore crab may be the key. They absolutely love rock piles and other structure such as sunken boats and wrecks, though they are rarely caught in deeper water offshore, undoubtedly due to the lower bottom temps in deeper water. Warm water is the other draw for these mysterious nomads, and for most local anglers structure is a major piece to the sheepshead puzzle. Though I have actually caught a sheepshead on a jig tipped with Fin-S, crabs and shrimp are on top of the sheepshead’s list of food stuff. Sheepshead, much like triggerfish and tautog, are strictly crustacean feeders. Will they set up shop here? With food availability and water temperatures rising like never before, the sheepshead may very well be here to stay, in the comfortable structure and crab-packed waters of the northeast. Our local grounds provide a virtual smorgasbord for these fish, with green crabs and other species of crustaceans in full natural supply. The fish we are seeing up here in the northeast are wanderers, and the more food they find – as a general rule – the bigger they are going to get. The author unhooks an 11-pound sheepshead from a favorite jetty of his during an early fall visit. In the grand scheme of things, we’re not far from international acclaim, as the world record of 21 pounds, 4 ounces caught off of the southern coast of Louisiana by Wayne Desselle in 1982 is not too far out of reach. The current New Jersey state record – a 19-pound, 3-ounce specimen – was caught in 2014 by William Catino at Longport, while Delaware’s state record of 17 pounds, 2 ounces was caught that same year by Pennsylvania’s Dave Walker while fishing Delaware Bay. The six fish I have had the privilege of catching all broke the 10-pound mark. I have caught a fair amount of sheepshead off of the jetties at the New Jersey coast, and the areas from Barnegat Light to Cape May have been a virtual hot bed for big fish in the past six or seven summers. But with the numbers growing rapidly, sheepshead are actually starting to be targeted by some of the craftier anglers out there. Locally, sheepshead have mostly been caught by accident by jetty jumpers and bridge huggers alike. I find that most fish that are crustacean feeders are quite tasty the food a fish eats most certainly reflects the taste of the meat, and sheepshead, triggerfish and tog are some of the crab-eating species that are consistently targeted by “connoisseurs of the fry pan.” Bigger is Better The sheepshead is in fact a great eating fish. The sheepshead is a staple of southern fishing communities where they are targeted and eaten in states like Florida and Louisiana. As time goes on perhaps and more fish are caught, sharp anglers are getting smart to the existence of the sheepshead in our northeast waters. This could very well be the reason that few large sheepshead see the hooks of a scale. I have seen folks toss a sheepshead back into the sea, thinking they were small black drum. Sheepshead look very much like a black drum (especially like the smaller “puppy” drum with vertical stripes), with a few distinguishing features that separate the two, the large protruding teeth probably the main way to identify sheepshead from black drum. Here in the northeast, where weather changes from season to season like the colors of a chameleon, there has been a change in the making warmer water temperatures have brought about new fishing opportunities, and the sheepshead is slowly joining the group of “northeast nomads.” Ever wonder where Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn got its name? These fish may have disappeared in recent decades, but Luke Feeney found them pretty good up in New York in 2018, from Jamaica Bay out to Sheepshead Bay.Ī good season of black drum action could be a great sign for sheepshead to come!
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