Bait Stealers! Convict fish! Heads! One charter guide even calls them a “seven striped jetty snapper.” Whatever you call them, sheepshead are some of the most overlooked saltwater fish in Georgia. They fight hard and are really great to eat. But, for some people, catching them is a real chore. One look at the near perfect row of front teeth and you see why they are so aptly named. They really do look like the teeth of a sheep!
Lots of sheepshead are caught on the nearshore artificial reefs up and down the Georgia coast in the winter. Guides can make a really good trip on a nearshore venture in the winter and load the boat with ’heads. But now the sheepsheads are migrating back inshore from their winter homes. They spawn every spring around the inlets and cuts up and down the southeast Atlantic coast. Big schools and concentrations of these good-eating fish can be found in the spring, especially around the many inlets with jetties.
