Reds on Oysters

[mosquito13]

Went out with a snow bird buddy yesterday morning. Figured to target sheepheads as he wanted some eats. So we grabbed 4 doz shrimp.(really pays to tip the bait guy regular like) . Hitting  ten docks(tallon/powerpoles change the way you fish). We were catching but mostly feeding. Lunch time I took him to some bars where a bunch of spoonbills have been hanging out last week or so. While eating notice a bunch of water being slowly pushed .  We were both fishing 7' medium power extra fast action rods rigged with 2 ft of 15lb flora carbon and 1/8 oz Arkie jig heads (sheephead fishing...) . But hell it was a school of about 35 reds , so on went whole shrimp and we threw 20 feet in front of the push. We both hooked up , I got cut off and partner pulled a 26" red in. I rerigged while he fought the fish. We did the rinse and repeat 4 times before spooking the school. Landing 7 fish to the boat. Only brought home three sheepheads but I got a fishing partner hooked for the rest of the season. Never would have tried fishing reds with those Arkies , I use them for sheephead cause when you hook a structure(where the sheepheads are) you can pull the hook straight and not lose the whole rig.  arkielures.com/collections/jig-heads/products/saltwater-heavy-wire-hook-jigs

[Juan]

Sounds like a great trip! emthup The sheepshead are running up here too. Most of the guides are hitting them hard this time of year. I'd target them too if I hadn't worn out the teeth on my chainsaw cleaning the last ones I caught.

[985crabs]

Love me some sheep fish. Passed off as crabmeat and other delicacies by restaurants all the time. Got to catch big ones though since so much body is rib cage. Enter tip of fillet knife in little stripe of un-scaled skin on either side of dorsal fin. Scales become non-issue. Still a PITA, but much more manageable.

[freezerfiller]

It's always fun when you run across the unexpected!