Several Trips - one half hearted mission - South Jersey Sheepshead

It always takes me a while to learn to catch a new species.  I've recently been half-heartedly targeting Sheepshead.  A little obsessively.

  How can it be both obsessive and half-hearted?  I always intend to commit more time to Sheepshead, but after an hour or so of no action I revert to my "plan-B" whatever that might be.  Usually this time of year it's Fluke fishing.  

They are often 17.5"

Fishing for Sheepshead is like Tog fishing, another species I targeted half-hearted and only recently caught a few of.  In this type of fishing you become very intimate with the bridge you are fishing.    (Whichever one it may be)

office cubicle

...also, because it's bait-fishing, there's a higher chance of by-catch like this Toad-fish.

Opsanus tau

There's only so long that I can stick around in one spot and let the little black sea bass at the bottom steal my crabs.  I had fiddlers one day, asian shore crabs another, and even bought some shedder crabs to see if that would work better.  I would become impatient and then change gears...

...like trying some night fishing by the lights. 

Sunset Paddle - Mike

 We did an early evening session and only managed to catch weakfish.

Fishing in the dark

 Also, a by-catch of fluke fishing is millions of 12" weakfish this year.

12"weakfish

I might squeeze one or two more South Jersey Sheepshead trips in, but September is here, and I'm about to change gears and do some long distance runs to target Bull Reds in the Southern Chesapeake.