How one Tampa Bay angler has won 2 sheepshead fishing tournaments so far in 2022

“There were probably 3,000 of them,” said fishing Capt. Chris Wiggins. “They were in there herded by the thousands. It was almost like they were laying on the surface.”

Wiggins is one of the premier big sheepshead anglers in Tampa Bay. He can catch them when it’s cold, warm or anywhere in between.

And what he does is unique, targeting them up in canals with no weight, light tackle and a bait many people often overlook.

“I use 20-pound fluorocarbon leader and 15-pound braided line with a 2/0 Owner hook and no weight. Before every trip, I scrape barnacles off pilings and that’s what I use for bait,” he explained. “The pilings with vinyl, they scrape off like butter. I hold a net below and use a spade and usually one or two scrapes gets enough for a trip.”

His method of fishing has been so productive he’s been able to take the crown of not one but two sheepshead tournaments over the past month.

In the Cloud Nine Outdoors’ Second Annual Sheepshead Tournament, he pulled in a solid 38.75 inches between two fish with the biggest at 6.8 pounds. In the other, he fished with his daughter in a junior division as she pulled in a 3.59 pound fish for first place.

At the Old Salt Fishing Foundation’s Johnny Keller Inshore Fishing Tournament, “it was cold that morning, I think 47 and rainy. We left late at 9:30 and fished only until 1. That’s when we ran into the big school of fish.

“I think between my daughter and the other female angler, they caught 87 sheepshead in the three or so hours. She says sheepshead fishing is her favorite and prefers that over catching snook, redfish, tarpon or anything like that. She always wants to catch sheepshead.”

Perhaps Wiggins’ method of targeting sheepshead is what makes his 12-year-old daughter find it to be her favorite. While many anglers will focus on reefs and other bay structures, he finds them in canals and by docks that have clean water in the winter. This lets him pick and choose bigger fish.

“I sight-fish them on docks. The water is clean so you can see them. If you find a big one under a dock you cast the barnacles right up under it to pick that one out.

“I just cruise around and can find them that way. When it’s cold after a front they push way up into a canal, and when it warms up they slowly work their way out. During that tournament since it was so cold I found them at the back of a canal stacked up.”

The biggest sheepshead landed this year by Wiggins actually came two days before one of those tournaments.

“Two days before with clients we got one that was 26.5 inches. It was laying up in about a foot of water by a dock. The barnacle hit the bottom behind him and he turned around, picked it up and ate it,” Wiggins said. “You need to cast it right on the pilings or they usually won’t eat it.”

Capt. Chris Wiggins can be reached at 727-479-5455 for a charter experience on Tampa Bay.