Sheephead for Bait

Someone asked me lately about fresh water drum for bait.

Here’s a thread from last year.

>click here

That was me, Brian. That’s too bad. I was thinking if they made good cut bait, I could fill a freezer this summer. The lake that our cabin is on is loaded with the things. Oh well, the pelicans like them

Filet out the backs and use in your favorite pickling brine
They are firm and very good this time of the year!

Bret

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That was me, Brian.

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Hey now! Click the link and go to the top. Don’t be hijacking my thread! Whatever happened to RalphtheNoober? I think sometime back I heard he is working 24/7?

Actually, I aksed him about it the other night, so I think he was referring to that.

I’ve used cut sheephead and they’ve work pretty good for the most part. But what I did notice was they had to be fresh “still bleeding”. Frozen and thawed just doesn’t seem to do it.

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Oh well, the pelicans like them

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It’s pure uninformed snobbery that sheephead are not good table fare or that they belong in a trash fish category. They’re as good as walleye if prepared right. Don’t keep the huge ones, cut off all red meat from the fillet, and however you cook them (any method will produce good food) don’t cook them too long – whereas most fish tend to fall apart when overcooked, sheephead get rubbery.

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It’s pure uninformed snobbery that sheephead are not good table fare or that they belong in a trash fish category.

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You don’t have to resort to calling me “uninformed and snobbish” because I’ve never tried eating sheephead . The only people I’ve ever caught them with viewed them as garbage, so that’s the view I’ve gotten of them. Maybe I’ll give it a shot this summer.

No offense intended RW, the “uninformed” part refers to forming the opinion without ever trying them, and the “snobbery” part to the people who influenced your opinion. Just a reaction I have that comes from hearing a lot of that opinion from people around here who admit to never even considering that sheephead might be good. That and growing up hearing people chuckle at the black folks and Hmong who keep a lot of sheephead and who view them as ignorant for doing so. I’m a convert myself, so it’s not as if I haven’t held the same opinion, back in my “uninformed” days…

I’ve always heard that river sheephead are much better than lake. I’ve never had it so I don’t know.

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Actually, I aksed him about it the other night, so I think he was referring to that.

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Oh, nevermind. I should fully comprehend the post before replying.

I’ve eaten it and loved it. Wrapped it in foil with olive oil and lemon and tossed it on the grill. It picked up the flavor of the steaks I’d grilled before. The jicama of the river far as I’m concerned. I also cut out the red line like posted above.

Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat the damn bait!

They are commercially harvested on the Miss, so they have to be decent. And aren’t they scientifically related to saltwater drum? I believe the salties are considered good eating.

Kinda Funny and Informative

After reading some stuff on the web, it seems the only real issue is they take special care to make a cooked fillet turn out right.

Like the article says, they aren’t an oily fish, which is probably why they aren’t a top flathead bait.

So, Flathead, are there any tricks to cleaning them? Just normal filleting? Are they good breaded and fried?

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So, Flathead, are there any tricks to cleaning them? Just normal filleting? Are they good breaded and fried?

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The trick is to fillet them normally but remove all red meat, which will give you two pieces of meat on larger fish because the red line runs right down the middle. Breaded and fried is my favorite for about any fish. For smaller fish, if you fillet them normally, you will get about zero meat from the belly side of the spine. And with all fish from the Mississippi, you don’t want to eat too many large ones. I keep them in the one pound range for eating.

Incidentally, in response to mplspug – their non-oily makes them below average channel bait, but I doubt it affects their ability to attract flatheads. I’ve used them with success for flats, but I find it rare to catch one small enough to use – the bigger ones can drag the weight and find a spot to sit without struggle, which ruins them as flathead bait.

I’ve eaten my share (whatever one person’s share is) of smaller flatheads, when I get one that’s hooked bad, or just get hungry, and the species most likely to be found in their stomachs is freshwater drum – the mighty sheephead. I would bet that they eat a greater percentage of gizzard shad than we’re aware of, but they’re so soft they probably don’t last long in those super-bellies.

mplspug,

Nice article. I release all but one or two meals a year of any fish, but I have always seen drum at the grocery store and kinda wondered. Maybe next time I am doing a camp on the river I will have to give some a shot. You never know until you try, right ???

And heck, can’t taste any worse then a Bass

Some of the commercial guys smoke fresh water drum and it is fabulous. I have also eaten a few of them fried. They aren’t my first choice but they aren’t bad. I doubt many people could tell the difference between drum and walleye.

Hey FlatheadWI,
I made true on my word and tried out a sheepie this weekend. You were right. It is good. If I wouldn’t have filleted and cooked it myself, I would never have known what it was. I’ll be keeping more from now on.

Strangely enough I have found them in rainbow foods fish section. They must be popular if they sell them there…