Today was my only day off this week as a pesky photo editor from the Detroit News hired me freelance to shoot Wednesday’s Tigers/Yankees game. So much for having two days off from staff job at The Ledger.
Needless to say, I was determined to wet a line even though I’d heard some less than encouraging reports from some of my regular inshore spots.
Well after scouring the fishing forums and a few phone calls, I decided sheepshead fishing at John’s Pass would be a good bet.
I stopped off and picked up a dozen live shrimp just in case I couldn’t find any rock crabs at my go-to spot along the Gandy Bridge approach.
I was able to find plenty of crabs. Even though those pesky convicts are adept bait, robbing thieves, I figured a couple of dozen crabs and a dozen shrimp should be enough to put a few in the cooler.
Sheepshead in the Tampa Bay area love these rock crabs. I learned this a number of years ago from a fellow, seasoned angler while fishing around the Gandy Bridge.
I finished the ride over from Lakeland and I set up at one of my spots out by John’s Pass Jetty at a little after noon. I figured an afternoon bite with an all day incoming tide, matched with a good solunar period between 12:55 p.m. and 1:55 p.m.,would be a good bet.
My trusty handheld Garmin GPS with its tide station and solunar table functions paid off again and it wasn’t long before I started to get some bites on shrimp pieces threaded on my favorite hook for sheepshead, a # 2 Gami, Octopus circle hook. This combined with two feet of 20-25lb leader with a couple of split shots about 16-18 inches above the hooks is my go to sheepie rig inshore.
I knew these bites weren’t sheepshead, and my hunch was correct. I began to catch some small sheepshead and then switched to larger pieces of shrimp. That’s when I caught my first keeper, a decent 13 ½ inch fish.
I then figured it was time to step it up bait wise and switched to using the rock crabs and my favorite big sheepie bait; a nice juicy shrimp head.
I began to get some decent size fish and caught a couple of real nice fish through the day. I worked a couple of different spots which all produced some fish.
I fished through the afternoon till late evening. I caught a good number of sheepies, probably 20 or so. I ended up with 11 keepers and kept six for the cooler.
Most of the keepers were just legal to about 15 inches. The largest I caught all day was 17 ½ inches. All of the bigger fish came on the shrimp heads or the crabs.
All in all it was a good way to spend my only day off. Eating fresh grilled sheepshead, mixed with some fresh stir sautéed vegetables, with a good friend, was also a fine way to spend the evening.
oh and this should be in the boat report..cheater 
