Jersey Sheepshead

By Nick Honachefsky

Bob Misak tread precariously along the slippery, moss-laden boulders of Barnegat Inlet’s south jetty, rod in hand and bucket of Asian crabs tied along his waist. Though Misak is a good friend, I didn’t worryabout him slipping a step into the drink but was more focused on the spot where he stopped. “This is it. The rock where they hang.” In New Jersey, you’d think he’s be talking about stripers or blackfish, but he was referring to sheepshead; the unicorn structure beast of the Garden State waters. Misak dropped his rig down, a light tickle of the rod, then a booming buckle down of the rod tip followed by a backbreaking battle. With rod in one hand and net in the other, Misak reached down and nabbed a 12-pound sheepshead. Misak shot me a glance as he release the jailbreaker. “There’s more than this one down there.”

SHEEPSHEAD HISTORY

I can hear anglers south of the border saying “Sheepshead, what’s the big deal?” I’ll tell you. Sheepshead aren’t a normal species in Jersey, well, let me back up, they haven’t been “normal” in Jersey in at least 40 years or more, but historically, their convict-striped presence was once common in the New York and New Jersey, or Sheepshead Bay off of Long Island, NY wouldn’t have been named as such. More than interestingly, any sheeps caught in Jersey rarely descend below the 5-pound mark, with average catchesweighing between 8 and 14 pounds. The NJ State record caught in 2014 stands at 19 pounds 3 ounces. Whether due to warming climate cycle, an invasion of Asian shore crabs in the 1980’s or something unknown to us as of yet, a truly trophy sheepshead fishery has dawned in the Garden State the past 15years and anglers are becoming hip to the secret.

JETTY JOCKS

Misak’s land-based sheepshead exploits have made him a shadow shore legend in the Garden State - histop sheep catch at 15.4 pounds would’ve broke the state record at the time had he known and not put it in the frying pan.

“I know some divers that key me in on where they stack up in schools of 4 to 6 fish of the same size and they say they tend to stay on the same rocks, year after year in the same area,” says Misak. On one outing, Misak and his friend bested six fish that all weighed between 14 and 15 pounds.

“You won’t find sheepshead on wrecks off the shore, but in deep back bay or inlet jetty tip waters like 25 to 30 feet where there is clean water, structure, and lot of tidal flow. Ideal water temps bounce between 70 and 78 degrees and you want to fish the outgoing tide on the jetty rocks.”

Misak’s Jetty rig consists of a 7-6 medium heavy stout rod, 3500 Shimano Stradic, 50-pound braid, Alberto Knot 40-pound 24 inches dropper loop up a foot, hanging 3 inches with a size #3/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook with a 1-1/2 ounce to 3 ounce bank sinker. He hooks small quarter sized Asian or Green crabs through the bottom pad and drops down just outside a rock crevasse. ”They hit hard on the run,moving like a big blackfish running along the bottom, they swim with it,” states Misak. “Once the body issideways then the fight is on, let the drag do the work and steer away from the rocks until they will tire out. I’m finding that its possible we may be seeing a new migratory pattern of them coming up though there may be sizes going down a little bit into 10 pounds and lower with people beginning to target them more often now.”

HARD BRIDGE STRUCTURE

Anyone in the tri-state area knows that the name Captain Dan Schafer of Insomniac Guide Service is synonymous with Jersey sheepshead as he has been the forerunner captain targeting south Jersey sheepshead.

“I found them as I started out toggin on the south Jersey bridges in 2005, where I put an aqua VU camera down and saw a school of sheepshead,” says Schafer. “After that, I dedicated to fishing for them where I landed my first, an 8 pounder, on a regular one hook dropper rig. I noticed that even though sheepshead stay around structure like blackfish, they didn’t react or stage like blackfish do.”

Schafer then dialed their habits in. “Usually, the season for Jersey sheeps in the back bays is late May to October. Sheepshead show up basically when waters hit 57 degrees and up to 75 degrees to stayingthroughout the summer and into the fall. Big sheepshead hang on the front side of bridge pilings and icebreakers as they will be the first to grab crabs funneling by, while the other smaller fish hang on the leeward side of the structure to get the rest of the crabs.”

Schafer fishes the lightest tackle jig possible to give a natural presentation in the current, with speed dictating what ounce you hold with. Generally Bottom Sweeper jigs from ¼ to 5/8 ounce suffice. When waters are dirty, bright colors like chartreuse or pink work better, when waters are clear, white or unpainted heads work best.

Proper bait plays big time in success rates. “Asian shore crabs are spring and fall baits while fiddler crabs are summer baits, from mid June to August. Sheepshead are hanging shallower in the water column off structure, like 1 to 6 foot down, may even be 1 to 2 feet under the surface in the high current areas. Crab hatches are flowing with the tides up in the water column then on the full and new moons and the fish feed accordingly where they bait is wafting by.”

Water clarity also plays a large part on strategy according to Schafer. “The more stained the water, the shallower or more vertical in the water column they are; cleaner water they stage deeper. As well, the faster the current, the higher in the water column they feed and the more slack the lower in column as the detritus is hanging more near bottom. Sheeps are aggressive feeders not like tautog hanging on the bottom but come up and roam.”

Schafer’s technique is kind of odd, but its directed. “I’ll work the bridges, Spot Locking right and tight ona piece.” Many times Schafer is literally holding the icebreaker or bridge piling with his hands. “I’ll dip a jig baited with crab starting 2 feet down, then if there isn’t a bite, drop it 2 more feet and repeat that process until I hit bottom down to 30 feet. If I don’t get a hit after three tries on that spot, I’ll move to another piece and it could be 20 feet away but it makes all the difference.”

Slack tide don’t mean the fish won’t feed. “When tide starts slacking they will come off structure like 30 feet off a bridge to roam around, toss around a jig at slack and work it back, I’ve had fish to 10 pounds on the slack fancasting off the structure. Best baits then are calico sand crabs as they are the more natural baits than the normal structure crab baits.”

SOFT STRUCTURE SODBANKS

Hard structure is one facet, but soft structure along the sodbanks can be just as productive. “Sodbank fishing with light jigs and light tackle is critical to not getting hung up,” says Schafer. “Sodbanks erode on one side with steep relief submerged structure with the sweet spot is 10 to 16 foot dropping to 22 foot along the ledges and steps of the submerged sod. They will stay around the submerged root system to forage. Drop to the bottom and walk a jig back over the sod when you dip into a hole that where they will be. Crawl it back and inch it little by little not jigging but inching it back getting into the holes and ledges of the submerged sod.”

When battling trophy sheepshead from the boat, they earn the name jailbreaker as they will shake hooks like mad to escape. “Sheepshead aren’t vertical fighters, but horizontal,“ says Schafer. “They’ll use their flattish porgy body design to use the tide and plane with the water for leverage, not like blackfish that dog down they will run away or into structure. When hooked up, I pull the Spot Lok and back up the boat to pull them away from the structure with a light smooth drag , then you can fight them as they plane up to the surface.”

Jersey Sheepshead are quickly becoming the new “hot” species on the hit list, not simply because they are a relative anomaly in the waters, but for their sheer fighting power and size mainly ranging from 8 to 15 pounds that absolutely rip drag and buckle rods. Is the new world record sheepshead going to be takenfrom Jersey’s relatively unplucked waters? Stay tuned.

SWS TACKLE BOX

Rod: 7 to 7-1/2 foot medium to heavy stout spinning rod, GLoomis 843 SWRSTR, 7 foot

Reel: 3000 to 5000 Shimano Stradic Spinning Reel

Line: 14- to 30-pound braid running line, 30 to 40-pound fluorocarbon leader

Lures: ¼ to 1-ounce Bottom Sweeper Jig in chartreuse, pink or white

Bait: Asian crabs, sand fleas, fiddler crabs, Jonah crabs, calico crabs

SWS PLANNER

What: Sheepshead

When: Late May through October

Where: Structure in New Jersey along Manasquan Inlet, Barnegat Inlet, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May

Who: Captain Dan Schafer, Insomniac Guide, www.insomniacguide.com (609)-780-5124