Though not thought of as one of the more notable game fish of the Texas waters. In fact referring to sheephead as game fish is really stretching the boundaries of the ruling of game species quite a bit. The sheep head will put up a descent fight when fishing with the right tackle. In fact some of the larger of the species will fool some of the more accomplishes anglers in believing they actual have something good on the end of their line until they see that familiar piece of crap silhouette when he finally break the surface of the water. And if patience and determination is what you have plenty off. Once you get over that intial disgusting smell and fillet around thousand of bones is what you love to do.Then with the right preparations sheep head can be a descent meal as long as you don't let the unsuspecting guest know what they are actually eating. So when you been experiencing one of those few a far between days when nothing else seems to be biting. And the kids are starting to get on your nerves cause they haven't caught any thing all day and start chanting "we want a fish, we want a fish". Then old Mr. Reliable is only a jetty or sunken barge away. Hooking up with a few in the 5+ pound range should help ease one of these tense situations if ever the need arises.
But for all of their grotesques appearance their are a few anglers out there that feel a boat load of this grazer of the deep is a good day of fishing. Myself this is one time I definitely practice the old catch and release method of fishing. Gone are the days of trying to fillet these bony carcasses to make a meal. Once I was able to free myself from the land ridden days of fishing every pier and jetty along the coast. And had my first taste of catching something more respectable for the likes of my boats fish box. I forsaken in harming another one of these bait stealing freaks of nature. I refuse to be seen at the dock unloading a sheep head from my boats fish box into an ice chest. For the fear of ridicule from my rightfully so fellow fishermen.
But for those of you that are hell bent on catching some of these weirdly deformed creatures of the bays. Here are a few tips to help in your endeavors. First it doesn't seem from my experience that what you throw out into those waters, this species will eat it. But for a more sure fired method it seems the more valuable the particular bait the more often the hook up ratio is for sheep head. Their seemly endless talents for stealing 10 dollar a quart shrimp and even more expensive mud minnows never seem to amaze me. And it never seems to fail when you are in desperate need for a red or speck fix to get that old adrenalin pumping one of the boney burgers seem to hit everything that hits the water. The only stay of executing and eliminating this species of fish off the face of the earth, is their only redeeming quality. And that is they are worth a prize in the annual G.C.C.A tournament. In fact for the biggest sheep head in three locations along the Texas coast line is worth a boat. But like most species when your actually trying to catch a real monster for a specific purpose they are no where to be found!!!!