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So why not eat a sheephead?

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11K views 41 replies 26 participants last post by  bustedrod  
#1 ·
I have been fishing Erie since the late 50's. My Dad told me to throw back sheephead because they were trash fish. When I was a kid I felt blessed to catch any fish with a worm under a bobber, and throwing back the sheephead ( down south here in KY they are generally called drum) just felt wrong. Over the years many a sheephead bit my Erie Derie and they all got thrown back. A few weeks ago I was able to get 4 days on a calm Erie and catch a bunch of nice Walleye eaters and not a one sheephead.

So my question is why not keep and eat sheephead? Are they hard to clean? Are they tasty if fixed correctly? Why does everyone throw them back? Inquiring minds want to know!
 
#4 ·
I grew up on the Mississippi River , when I was young they were always considered a bonus catch for my grandpa. They got their own basket , he would clean them and only after he got his fill would the rest get passed around. I don’t like fish , I rarely eat any of it , but if you asked all my relatives in Iowa about them , they would say your crazy to throw them back.
 
#5 ·
Back in the early 70's, well before Lake Erie became the "walleye Capital of the world", I went up to the islands fishing for whatever would bite. I caught two walleye, a large smallmouth, two 2-3# sheepshead, a few nicer whitebass, and several yellow perch. I had been promising a couple friends from work a fish fry and the freezer was pretty empty. I fileted and skinned all the fish caught that day, cut the bigger filets into smaller, similar sized pieces, batter dipped and deep fried everything. Needless to say, not one piece was left after dinner. Noone else knew what 'species' they were eating. They raved about how good ALL the fish were. Though I knew the variety, I could not tell one piece from the other-all were delicious! By the way, sheephead are a very close(albeit a fresh water) relative to the red drum from salt waters. "Blackened redfish", (smaller) red drum, are considered one of the preemo fish dishes on the southeast and southern coastal states! Seems any fish with a "turned downed" mouth are considered "trash fish", but not in the South!
 
#6 ·
growing up in the late 40's and 50's we ate them.and catfish.also suckers..we were poor.we did not get a used TV until 1954 but by 1957 Dads work got good and we got a new car. now everyone has at least 2 new cars and a truck 2 snowmobiles 2 boats a motor cycle .of coarse a couple ATV's Times sure have changed. we think nothing about paying $3 for worms and paying someone to clean fish. When I worked in New York we would see trucks from Monroe bring Live carp to fish market.how many of us eat Carp here..I don't know if I was better off when I did not have much or now .The stock market has been so good to us,money wise along with 401Ks.
 
#7 ·
I've had Sheepshead a couple of ways and they weren't too bad. I've had them smoked and cubed, boiled, and served like shrimp cocktail. In both cases, the fish were only 2-3 lbs. and were caught in the spring when the water was cold. I grew up in a neighborhood that was primary made up of Eastern Europeans. They all ate both the Sheepshead and the Carp.
Honestly, I would rather eat Sheepshead than some of the store bought ocean fish.

Wes
 
#12 ·
Wouldn’t surprise me if they were somewhere. I used to watch them keep thousands they netted through the ice on the Mississippi. Not sure where they went , probably the local fish special , they kept carp and catfish as well
 
#14 ·
Smaller ones make some good poor man' s shrimp. Fillet, remove skin and cut into 1/2" strips. One pot with boiling water and one as an ice bath. Boil for 1 min and immediately remove and place into ice bath. They have the consistency of a fresh cooked shrimp. Little cocktail sauce and done. This is from my father and his friends back in the 80's and it's not that bad. We had a dock at Edgewater for over 30 years and we used to spend the entire summer on the boat, walleye limits of 10 per person was easy without ever having to go miles out, no limit on perch and when minnows were not available we used tin foil and wd40 . Every night the boat group would put on some good dinners at the marina and the sheep were part of it.
 
#15 ·
Tried some a year or two ago and I actually liked them. Only reason I don't keep them is as Jim said sorta a pain to fillet and you pretty much just get a small strip of back meat. Also they stinked up my cooler. Had to scrub it down 3 times with straight pine-sol. If the walleye population plummeted I'd start keeping them, but that don't look like it's gonna happen anytime soon.
 
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#18 ·
Tried some a year or two ago and I actually liked them. Only reason I don't keep them is as Jim said sorta a pain to fillet and you pretty much just get a small strip of back meat. Also they stinked up my cooler. Had to scrub it down 3 times with straight pine-sol. If the walleye population plummeted I'd start keeping them, but that don't look like it's gonna happen anytime soon.
Use bleach to clean that cooler!
 
#22 ·
I started playing with them a few years ago. As others said, the yield is surprisingly small, just get the backstrap and be sure to trim the dark meat. I've stayed in about the 15-18 inch range so far, any smaller would be pointless and scared to try a big one.

Did the boil and dip in butter thing. "Poor man's lobster". Yeah, it was poor alright.

Moved onto blackening and grilling. Much better. A rare treat actually. The texture is amazing. More like swordfish, not flaky but a pleasant chewiness to it. Haven't tried freezing any yet.

I plan to make a chowder with it at some point in the future. I think with the super firm texture that would be amazing.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I plan to make a chowder with it at some point in the future. I think with the super firm texture that would be amazing.
That just might be the ticket! Surpised I didn't think of it, I do like a meatier chowder but don't wanna spend 50 bucks on clams. Little bit of clams and some sheephead, i bet it would be good! Just gonna have to find a way to keep all those small pesky walleye from biting the hook. Might start clubbing them and feed 'em to the gulls. :D
 
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#25 · (Edited)
It's just something different. Am I allowed to eat salmon too, your highness? The white bass I grilled up the other night were delicious too.

It's a 4 hour drive to the lake and I only have time for 2-3 trips a year so I am going full out Byler and bringing some fish home when I go. Really, limits of these little "eater" size walleye are coming easy but unless you are out there all the time, they aren't putting much meat in the freezer. I am ready for them to grow some shoulders. Back in the prime of the '03 fish, getting 100 pound coolers, I wasn't keeping much of the bycatch back then.
 
#26 ·
I remember when I use to fish the long wall in fairport before I could afford a boat. Everyone I saw would just throw the sheep head they caught on the rocks. You would see them laying all over and stinking up the place. I would just throw them back. But two weeks ago I cleaned a few for a guy I took out and my hands stunk for 3 days . Plus not much meat on them he was going to can them . With the white perch we caught to make fish cakes .
 
#29 ·
I hate cleaning walleye. I cleaned them for many yrs. but now I don't clean fish because I hurt to bad. I turned the cleaning over to my oldest son and most time he pays to have them cleaned. so why would I want to clean a known trash fish?
sherman
 
#32 ·
Sheephead are under the same advisory as steelhead 1 meal a month.