Sheepshead
Average Size: 14 inches, 3 pound
South Carolina State Record: 16 pounds, 6 ounces (2008)
Best Season: May-Nov(inshore) Dec – March (nearshore)
Sheepshead Habitat typically include nearshore coastal waters, bays, sounds, as well as brackish reaches of rivers that are associated with reefs, live bottom, wrecks, piers, pilings, rocks, and jetties. Sheepshead are omnivorous grazers that use their unique teeth to grind and crush invertebrates associated with hard structures which makes them notoriously difficult to catch.
Feeding primarily on mussels, clams, small oysters, barnacles, crabs, shrimp, and small fish; may also consume tunicates, polychaete worms and amphipods or copepods. As sheepshead age, they tend to move to offshore reef habitats and during the colder months they will gather in large schools which often provide non-stop fishing action.
