“Many facets go into targeting trophy sheepshead in the New Jersey fishery, but the mantra ‘first come, first served’ applies big time. Number one, bigger fish of 11 to 14 pounds are found in massive amounts of current. When the current is running heavy, I’ve come to find that large sheeps feed near the surface. These large adult fish tend to hang on the front windward side of bridge pilings, one to six feet down as their massive flanked bodies can hold in the stiff current where smaller fish cannot. As such, they get first dibs on all the barnacles, crabs, etc. as small fish can’t stem the current like the bigger ones, while smaller two-to-six-pound class fish hang on the leeward side of the structure to get the rest of the crabs. As the current slacks up, fish will move deeper into the water column.”
Sheepshead guru Khoa Duy Nguyen, of the Tide Chasers podcast and who has studied under Schafer, adds to the swift current hypothesis. “Ideal conditions for targeting big fish are three to four days after a full or new moon from the slack to the outgoing. I hunt the larger sheepsheads on the frontside of a current, which goes completely against what I preach in seminars to fish the backsides of pilings. But the bigger fish can easily stem the tide to feed.”
Regarding trophy sheepshead habits Schafer states, “big fish are mature enough to be nomadic so they will stray away from smaller fish. If you aren’t finding your target trophies in 15 to 20 minutes, then move. Generally, you have around a 30-minute window of opportunity to target the large fish at one spot, then move to follow the tide at various spots as big fish will move around to capitalize on the first shot at feeding.”
Nguyen adds, “All my bigger fish from 12 to 14 pounds are solitary creatures by nature. I notice that they hang with the blackfish schools by bridge pilings and the rocky inlets. Once you get that one hit and hookup with a large sheepshead, then you have to move to find another, because he was the big boy there and chances are there are no other large ones around.”
