Sheepshead
Archosargus probatocephalus
Also
known as: Convict
fish
Avg. Size: 4-10 Lbs
Where: bridge, Dock, Reef, Jetties
Fishing Methods: Bottom, drift
Rods: light spinning, baitcast
Food Quality 
Regulations: Minimum
12". 15 per person per day.
Must remain whole until ashore. Harvest prohibited by
or with the use of any multiple hook in conjunction
with live or dead bait.
Habitat
Primarily occurring inshore around rock pilings, jetties, mangrove roots,
and piers as well as in tidal creeks, the euryhaline sheepshead prefers
brackish waters. It seeks out warmer spots near spring outlets and river
discharges and sometimes enters freshwater during the winter months. This
fish moves to offshore areas in later winter and early spring for spawning,
which sometimes occurs over artificial reefs and navigation markers. Juveniles
live in seagrass flats and over mud bottoms. Recorded among those species
that perish during periodic low oxygen fish kills, the sheepshead is not
particularly tolerant of low levels of dissolved oxygen.
Food Habits
The sheepshead is an omnivorous fish, feeding on invertebrates, small
vertebrates and occasional plant material. Large juveniles and adults
prey on blue crab, oysters, clams, crustaceans, and small fish including
young Atlantic croakers (Micropogonias undulatus, Sciaenidae). The sheepshead
uses its impressive dentition to crush heavily armored and shelled prey
and to scrape barnacles from rocks and pilings. The diet of juveniles
includes zooplankton, polychaetes, and chironomid (midges) larvae.
Catch techniques:
crab, shrimp,
clams, cut bait
small hook