Last Updated on May 31, 2019
I spent the better part of the evening fishing from a few docks on the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) in search of the elusive Sheepshead. For the first hour or two I had no problem finding them using fiddler crabs that I caught near by, but just could not get the hook set in any of them.
After burning through 3 dozen crabs and only having caught 2 undersize Sheepshead for my efforts I decided to switch to live shrimp. The live shrimp continued the constant picking with out catching until I cut a shrimp into 3 pieces and used only a small amount at a time.
Using the cut fresh shrimp I was able to land about 10 keeper sized Sheepshead and put one 15” sheepy into the cooler. The 15-inch fish was the largest of the day. I think the reason I was loosing so much bait is because the majority of them were quite small and didn’t eat the entire crab, just took parts of it!
Daniel Hagan has been fishing Florida’s shores since 1985 and writing about it for more than 20 years. As Managing Editor of FloridaShoreFishing.com, he shares firsthand experience covering surf and pier fishing, tackle, techniques, and Florida’s coastal species.
