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Partly cloudy skies early followed by increasing clouds with showers developing later at night. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: March 17, 2024 @ 1:02 am
The sheepshead won’t win any beauty contests. But when the action is slow on other species at this time of year, he’s the go-to for some good action in Tampa Bay, where guides and tackle shops are reporting the bite is on.

The sheepshead won’t win any beauty contests. But when the action is slow on other species at this time of year, he’s the go-to for some good action in Tampa Bay, where guides and tackle shops are reporting the bite is on.
Sheepshead, sheepshead and more sheepshead. Is there an echo in the room?
Seems our reporting bait shops and captains are all on the same page right now when asked what’s biting best — sheepshead.
They’re homely and sport a serious overbite, but they’re biting like nothing else right now, so many anglers (and guides) are going with the flow and targeting them. For those who’ve never bothered with them, now might be a great time to give sheepshead fishing a try.
This species shows up in great numbers heading into winter, and they typically run larger than in the warmer months, with fish up to 10 pounds taken from the bay in recent days. They gather around structure, with bridge and dock pilings, seawalls and anything else where barnacles attach. Why? The barnacles are a favorite meal for sheepshead, who possesses teeth that look a bit like those of a horse that can chip the barnacles off whatever they are attached to and use the hard crushers they have inside their mouths to pulverize them to get to the tiny bit of meat inside them. They also are fond of small crabs, which they easily crush.
One of the best tactics to catch them is to use a spade or square shovel to scrape some barnacles off a piling, effectively chumming the water to get the fish feeding. The idea is to let a bait sink to the bottom in the current along with the barnacles. Good baits are live and frozen shrimp, fiddler crabs and frozen sand fleas, all of which are available at most bait shops. Some swear by barnacles, but collecting barnacles, crushing them and threading the meat on the hook is too labor-intensive for many.
Most use a #1 or 1/0 bait hook, but a 2/0 when going for the big ones. Some like to use a sheepshead jig head, which has a weight molded on the hook shank or swinging from the hook’s eye.
If using just a hook, the least amount of weight to get the bait to the bottom in the current is used. On a slack tide, a weight may not be needed. A foot or so of 20-pound fluorocarbon leader helps guard against cut-offs on pilings or other structure.
When fishing for sheesphead, keep the line tight, as they are adept bait-stealers, and setting the hook relatively quickly is a key to success.
Capt. Chuck Rogers likes working docks and bridge pilings when targeting sheepshead, and bits of shrimp for bait. Capt. George Hastick often takes them in deep water pockets of 12 to 16 feet of water with rocky or coral bottom. He also gets them on the artificial reefs in the bay, with the one near the St. Pete Pier a known sheepshead producer.
Sheepshead are scrappy fighters for their size and are great first-fish for junior anglers getting into the sport. Fishing for them also can produce bonus catches including mangrove snapper, pompano and drum. Sheepshead spawn offshore starting in January each year, and boaters like working rocks and reefs for them into March. These big breeder fish can easily range average five pounds or more and are a handful on light tackle.
Sheepshead must be at least 12 inches long to keep, with eight fish per angler per day. They are not the most prized on the table, but they are not bad fried or broiled. A drawback is that they yield surprisingly little meat for their overall size, so figure on a couple of 12-inch fish per person at dinner.
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