# Why do you hate sheephead?



## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

Just curious why the hate towards sheephead? Not saying you shouldn't hate sheephead, just curious why.  I've only caught a handful of sizable ones but some things I've noticed is that they don't fight at all, and they are slippery bastards that are hard to deal with when hooked.. couple that with I heard they don't taste good and I suppose those are the main reasons?

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

where & how do you fish if "they don't fight at all"??? 

I'm speaking Erie here, Most people don't like them becuase they are not their target species.....They are a perfectly good native species, most people I know respect them but would prefer to catch their target species....I've met verry few peope who actualy hate them. 


My son is proud of this Fish Ohio F.W. Drum he cuaght last summer

Now, gobies and white perch on the other hand........


----------



## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

boss302 said:


> where & how do you fish if "they don't fight at all"???
> 
> I'm speaking Erie here, Most people don't like them becuase they are not their target species.....They are a perfectly good native species, most people I know respect them and would prefer to catch their target species....I've met verry few peope who actualy hate them. Now, gobies and white perch on the other hand........


The few I've caught have been in rivers, and I shouldn't say they don't fight at all, but in my experience they put up very little fight when compared to other species of comparable size.

And just to avoid any kind of argument, I don't hate them to a point where I kill them or treat them differently than any other fish. I just don't enjoy catching them. I don't eat fish so when I catch them, its strictly for the sport of it and they just don't seem a fun fish to catch. Again, I've only caught a handful of these fish, and only 2 of any real size, so its possible I just caught tired ones lol.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## chadwimc (Jun 27, 2007)

They're pretty fun when caught on 4lb test when crappie fishing...


----------



## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

chadwimc said:


> They're pretty fun when caught on 4lb test when crappie fishing...


Hah yeah I'll bet. I've only caught them on 15lb. flouro so maybe that's my problem.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## wedebrook (Jul 29, 2009)

I can't say anything bad about sheephead, carp, bullheads, or any other "less than desirable" species. I have had bad days on the water and if it weren't for fish of those species, I would have gotten skunked. I typically catch my drum on the creeks and rivers around here, which means I am fully outfitted in my 9.5' kayak with nothing more than a small tackle box of rebel craws and an ultralight spinning rod. I will take sheephead on an ultralight in that environment before I get skunked any day of the week.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

I love catching freshwater drum. They're tasty when small out of central ohio streams.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## RiverCat (May 25, 2012)

I just don't find them very tasty, I'll take some Florida Sheephead though.


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

boss302 said:


> where & how do you fish if "they don't fight at all"???
> 
> I'm speaking Erie here, Most people don't like them becuase they are not their target species.....They are a perfectly good native species, most people I know respect them but would prefer to catch their target species....I've met verry few peope who actualy hate them.
> 
> ...


i guess this says it about as good as i could have. i just dont like catching them and wasting time when im walleye fishing. tho like others they have saved the day for us a couple of times. one trip my little brother and my oldest son was fishing during a super heavy mayfly hatch. we wasnt getting anything. then it started to rain. we got a nice sheepie about 10 lb. my son reeled it in, so now he,s soaking wet. we started to hit fish, all of them was sheepies. so my brother and me just stayed under the top and let my son reel in fish for about 2 hrs. still one of his most talked about fishing trip.

i dont like to catch any of what i call trash fish while trolling for eyes. white perch white bass sheephead. you havent had a hit in 2 hours so you start checking your lures just to find alittle trash fish on half of your lines and the worms gone off the rest. or one has been on for awhile and has your lines looking like spider webs.

there was a time we turned all trash fish into walleyes. we would bounce there heads off the back of the boat untill its eyes was walled. and then the gulls would get them. but after growing up alittle more this pratice has pretty much stopped on my boat. but still sometimes when we,ve been fishing for awhile and trash is the only thing thats been caught, one might get bounced off the back of the boat. just to get the jinx off our boat.LOL.
sherman


----------



## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

I usually catch them in lake erie when perch fishing. They can be fun to catch and they put up a decent fight , but I hate them because I am trying to catch perch and if the sheepshead and gobies would just leave my bait alone I could catch a lot more. There are times when the perch are biting good but the problem is so are the sheepshead.


----------



## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

Some of the Sheep we catch on Erie actually pull like a Steelie at the start. It's amazing how fast some of them will run.



sherman51 said:


> ...i dont like to catch any of what i call trash fish while trolling for eyes. white perch white bass sheephead. you *havent had a hit in 2 hours so you start checking your lures *just to find alittle trash fish on half of your lines and the worms gone off the rest. or one has been on for awhile and has your lines looking like spider webs....


Sherman, you need to be checking your harnesses every 15 minutes.  That can be a tough thing to do (or to get your crew to do) as the morning wears on, otherwise you may be out for just a boat ride.


----------



## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

They're mostly hated by trollers imo. Its a lot of work trolling multiple lines and when urn getting slammed by sheep its not fun. I hate when they hit the harness because they tend to ruin them with their meaty mouths. That gets expensive. You hook one in 25 fow on a tube on bottom in a fast drift that weighs over 10lbs and you're in for a battle of the ages.


----------



## Rod-Man (Feb 4, 2012)

I troll. The reason myself and a lot of others do not care for the farm animals is simple. Money. These drum destroy walleye gear like its there job. Last weekend they clobbered two $15 lures and bowed a 8 ft landing net beyond repair. Have you priced an 8 ft landing net lately? I dont condone beating them off your boat, but its safe to say they're not my favorite species.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## 419deerhunter (Mar 23, 2011)

I dont mind catching them IF the fishing is slow just hate how slimy they are and you can never get your hook back from their mouth. When I was a kid my dad showed me how to clean and cook the just take the "back strap" of meat off them cube it up and drop in boiling water for a few seconds and it taste alot like lobster


----------



## bassfisher1 (Mar 24, 2010)

Before the walleye, sheephead were the reason people fished Lake Erie. Drew thousands of fishermen/women.


----------



## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

because the guy attacked me on here for no reason  but he now sits on my blocked list!!


----------



## Rod-Man (Feb 4, 2012)

bassfisher1 said:


> Before the walleye, sheephead were the reason people fished Lake Erie. Drew thousands of fishermen/women.


Very interesting. Do you have a source article. I would be interested in learning more about that.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

ezbite said:


> because the guy attacked me on here for no reason  but he now sits on my blocked list!!


I lol'd

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Rod-Man said:


> I troll. The reason myself and a lot of others do not care for the farm animals is simple. Money. These drum destroy walleye gear like its there job. Last weekend they clobbered two $15 lures and bowed a 8 ft landing net beyond repair. Have you priced an 8 ft landing net lately? I dont condone beating them off your boat, but its safe to say they're not my favorite species.
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


plus 1, and i get made fun of by everyone on the boat when i do catch them..... I guess i dont get mad when i catch a few but when its ALLL DDAAYY LLOONNGG it can get old not getting the desired fish.


----------



## bad luck (Apr 9, 2009)

I troll. The reason myself and a lot of others do not care for the farm animals is simple. Money. These drum destroy walleye gear like its there job. Last weekend they clobbered two $15 lures and bowed a 8 ft landing net beyond repair---------------ever considered not netting them????.

They fight pretty good, part of fishing Erie. Used to kill them off back of boat, but I don't like having to scrub blood/scales off back of boat each trip. Just got texted a picture from a buddy down south of a 27" saltwater drum he just caught!!


----------



## Rod-Man (Feb 4, 2012)

bad luck said:


> I troll. The reason myself and a lot of others do not care for the farm animals is simple. Money. These drum destroy walleye gear like its there job. Last weekend they clobbered two $15 lures and bowed a 8 ft landing net beyond repair---------------ever considered not netting them????.
> 
> They fight pretty good, part of fishing Erie. Used to kill them off back of boat, but I don't like having to scrub blood/scales off back of boat each trip. Just got texted a picture from a buddy down south of a 27" saltwater drum he just caught!!


When they have a $16 Rattle Tot and a $3 swivel in their mouth you net them. I got most of the bugs worked outta my process. This is my 30th year.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## boatnut (Nov 22, 2006)

ezbite said:


> because the guy attacked me on here for no reason  but he now sits on my blocked list!!


you can block people on here? dang...didn't know that...hmmm..let's see now ..


----------



## boatnut (Nov 22, 2006)

sheeps or goats..whatever ya call 'em....yeah they are a pain... I will say when the bite is slow at least they give you some action. The worst though is when you're perching and those barstards bite. gets old fast reeling those fat, slimy barstards up and releasing , often resulting in bent hooks. Lately been getting double sheeps on perch rigs....now there's some fun reeling for ya! fat barstards
!!!!


----------



## nooffseason (Nov 15, 2008)

They do save the day sometimes, especially when perch fishing. We call them sheep-busters. Similar to the term 'slump-buster', some of my single buddies get a kick out of it.


----------



## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

I've never really fished Erie before. Are there a lot of them? Might toss in a line from shore if I can find some this weekend while I'm up that way. Wouldn't mind catching one just for the heck of it. 
And what do they "bite" on mostly. May just take some crawlers or something....
Thanks.


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

Workdog said:


> Some of the Sheep we catch on Erie actually pull like a Steelie at the start. It's amazing how fast some of them will run.
> 
> 
> 
> Sherman, you need to be checking your harnesses every 15 minutes.  That can be a tough thing to do (or to get your crew to do) as the morning wears on, otherwise you may be out for just a boat ride.


thanks workdog, and we do check them more often than 2 hrs, the 2hrs was just to make a point as to how troublesome those trash fish can be. we will start checking lines about every 1/2 hour or so. but its been alot better since i started using the lite bite slide divers. i set them as light as they will go. and most of the time even the white perch will trip them. and on my riggers i went to the chamberlain release. it has a lite bite adjustment on it to. but i havent used them enough yet to have them down real good. but i can set them pretty loose for the fish and still put a good bend in the rod. and i,m getting better at this walleye fishing thanks to alot of you guys helping me out. and i may be alittle of an old dog but i still listen and learn everything i can.
sherman


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

JSykes3 said:


> I've never really fished Erie before. Are there a lot of them? Might toss in a line from shore if I can find some this weekend while I'm up that way. Wouldn't mind catching one just for the heck of it.
> And what do they "bite" on mostly. May just take some crawlers or something....
> Thanks.


thers like the pirana of lake erie, they,ll eat almost anything. and a crawler to them is like a big walleye fillet to us.LOL.
sherman


----------



## BobcatJB (Mar 30, 2005)

One of only a few native species that eat zebra mussels.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

Nothing wrong with that : )









Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

JSykes3 said:


> I've never really fished Erie before. Are there a lot of them? Might toss in a line from shore if I can find some this weekend while I'm up that way. Wouldn't mind catching one just for the heck of it.
> And what do they "bite" on mostly. May just take some crawlers or something....
> Thanks.


Go to lake erie and find a pier...throw out raw shrimp....reel in sheephead 

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Wow (May 17, 2010)

I hate them because they aren't fish...............They're rats!................Swimming rats!.....................lake Erie swimming rats!
They dash your hopes, destroy your rigs and waste your time. 

They're good for nothin'............except maybe garden fertilizer! --Tim


----------



## Had a Bite (Apr 15, 2012)

HAHAHA, Rats might be better than sheepheads. They hit the line, you set the hook and then after 5 sec's there's no fight and that big wally just became a waste of time and not worth reeling in. They come in sideways and just suck!!!! If you like them, great keep catching them, catch them all. As for catching them because nothing else is hitting, I'd rather be blanked than have false hope. Just my opinion. 

I never heard that they were a fish that brought people to the lake? I have no knowledge of that but find it very hard to believe. I don't know anyone that go fishing to catch sheephead. Even homeless shelters would turn them away.


----------



## rod bender bob (May 19, 2004)

bassfisher1 said:


> Before the walleye, sheephead were the reason people fished Lake Erie. Drew thousands of fishermen/women.



I would like to see your source for this info. I've been fishing Erie fir 50+ years and it never happened during that time. I!ve known guys who fished it before WWII and eyes were still main target?


----------



## Rod Hawg (Jan 13, 2011)

Going off of fight. They fight great!!!! But when it comes to trolling Erie for walleye... You think you got a good sized eye on and up comes an ugly sheep head. They just aren't a prized sportfish in my book. Although catching them on light gear while perch fishing is FUN!!!


----------



## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

there very fun to catch out of erie ..we get some big ones


----------

