Catch a Convict
By Lee Kelly

At right: Chuck Kahlert with a "double digit" sheepshead caught August 12.

The dog days of summer are here where the stagnant humid air hangs so thick it feels like a drenched blanket weighing on an angler's shoulders. On the water, it is difficult to withstand heat indexes of over one hundred degrees. Yet this is also the time of year when fish…big fish, are stacked along the structure of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel. This is the time of year for sheepshead!

Sheepshead are known by a number of aliases such as convict fish (identified by 5 to 7 distinct vertical black bands on sides), sheephead, sheep(s) and seabream.

A member of the porgy family, sheeps are worthy adversaries and until recently have not been targeted in the tidewater area by more than a handful of anglers. In the last couple of years though, when word got out how great they taste and how well they fight, angling pressure has increased exponentially. With respect to fish size, we in Hampton Roads are fortunate to have HUGE fish pushing their upper size and age limits. As a result, we need to be responsible anglers and keep only what we intend to eat that evening and release the rest so others can enjoy this magnificent fish.

Experienced anglers make the most of their day by heading out early in the morning, timing their excursions to coincide with the most productive fishing at slack tide or light current flow. This is not only done for comfort but for safety as fishing for these beasts means getting up close and personal to structure, be it rocks, pilings or over a wreck. Many fish for just a few hours when the temperatures are tolerable and head back to the dock with muscles aching from fighting numerous fish, while most people are just heading out for the day.

Above: Dr. James "Ike" Eisenhower, on August 12, shows how close to structure you need to be to catch a "convict."

Sheepshead can be found gathering around oyster bars, pilings, seawalls, over debris (especially between bridge tunnel pilings), artificial reefs and around navigation markers. Adults prey on mollusks and crustaceans such as fiddler crabs and barnacles, blue crabs, oysters, clams and small fish such as Atlantic croakers. Catching them takes practice. Sheepshead are famed thieves and will steel your bait faster than you can imagine these toothy critters were near your offering. They have a mouthful of teeth including incisors, molars, and rounded grinders all designed to crush shells and get to that tasty morsel inside in a hurry.

Fishing for them is almost identical to fishing for tautog. Relate your fishing and boat as close to structure as you can. Anchor (using a wreck anchor) at the rocks of the Chesapeake Bay tunnel islands for example.

Fishing tackle is the same as tog as well, including stout rods with enough backbone to keep these fighters away from the pilings and rocks once hooked. My preference is a 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 foot rod with a Penn 320 GTI rigged with 80-pound no-stretch line such as Power Pro terminating with a plastic bead and a quality snaplock swivel. To this I attach pre-rigged 20 to 40 pound mono drop leader. Making the leader is easy.

I snell a 4/0 to 6/0 octopus style hook to the leader using the Kenlee snell knot (see my June 2005 article in the Chesapeake Angler Magazine for the knot description). About 8 inches above the hook, I tie a surgeon's loop (for the weight), and at the opposite end of the leader I tie a second surgeon's loop, which attaches to the snaplock swivel. Add a 4-6oz weight to your leader. Others use a 3 to 4oz egg sinker above the snaplock swivel on the mainline with an 18 to 24 inch leader with a snelled hook. Both methods work well.

Next, drop any of the "baits" listed above to the bottom. Start with fiddler crabs, and if they are unavailable, use sections of blue crabs. I like to insert the hook point through a back leg socket then out of the top near the back of the shell. Drop the bait to the bottom and crank the reel up a turn or two and hold it in place. If you do not get a bite, crank up another turn or two on the reel handle and hold again. Do this all the way to the surface to locate where the fish are. Lastly, if you feel ANYTHING or have the slightest inkling you have a bite, raise your rod tip fast! If a sheep is there you'll know instantly. If not, reel up and re bait because he was there and he is now enjoying the bait you used to have on your hook!

Good luck and…don't catch em' all!