Sheepshead Fishing

Sheepshead Fishing Charters in Hilton Head, SC
Here in Hilton Head we have an excellent sheepshead fishery and these fish offer great action for the beginner or the seasoned angler. If you take a close look at a sheepshead you may think that they are one of the oddest fish that you have ever seen. They have a a set to teeth that look like something out of a bad hillbilly movie, but once you get over those teeth you will find that they are one of the coolest fish in the sea! We tend to find sheepshead around different types of structure from oyster bars and dock pilings to the offshore wrecks. Sheepshead put up an impressive fight and also make for great table fare.

These fish get their name from the “sheep-like” teeth that they use to crush barnacles and crabs. They are also known as “convicts” due to the vertical stripes that run down their bodies, but the name ever fits as they try to steal bait after bait off of your hook without you feeling a thing. Not only do sheepshead have an impressive set of dentures but also several rows of crushers lining their mouth and throat. If you watch them feeding on barnacles, they will scrape the hard barnacles with their teeth and then use their crushers to get to the inner meat.

For most of the year we will target sheepshead around inshore dock and bridge pilings, but the best
action is during the colder months when these fish move out to deeper water. I commonly look for calm days to head out to the nearshore wrecks to catch sheepshead during the winter. When the bite turns on you can literally catch em as fast as you can get a bait down. I use light spinning rods in the 8-17 pound class to make it sporting, but there is surely some skill to not only hooking sheepshead, but also digging them out of the wreck. You have to realize that we commonly see fish in the 10-12 pound range with some pushing 15 plus!