It’s the perfect time of year to catch this fish around Tampa Bay, Palmetto captain says

A few weeks ago, Captain John Gunter was seeing sheepshead in odd places around the bay.

“There was one day they were mixed in with redfish around an oyster bar in Terra Ceia Bay,” said the Palmetto-based captain.

“They wouldn’t eat anything, but I was seeing a lot of them on the flats. I think that was when they started coming out of the backwater and staging up for spawn.”

Sheepshead, like many other fish, congregate in large groups to continue their life cycle during spawning season. That season is now, and with his historical knowledge, Gunter knew when it was time to find them in their spawning grounds.

“This week has been ridiculous. The spawning aggregations showed up on the rocks and reefs in the bay,” said Gunter. “It went from getting a few here and there to a four-person limit in no time on Tuesday.”

On Wednesday, he experienced more of the same with another limit for his clients. Fishing pieces of shrimp on 3/8- to 1/2-ounce Sheepballs and jigheads, Gunter said the sheepshead were in full-on spawning mode, following up hooked fish to the surface. If you find one, a giant group is most likely together.

“I try to fish as close as I can to big structure around the bay. Reefs, rock piles, wrecks. The bigger the better. Get enough weight to get a bait to hold the bottom and they hit it quickly. At times, three or four more were chasing the big hooked fish to the surface. The females are scraped up from rubbing and full of roe, only a few days away from spawning, I’m sure.”

Thursday was also filled with sheepshead, but they were harder to hook as schools of other fish made their way into the sheepshead spawn.

“There were a lot of big pinfish. Some days we find a lot of baby lane snapper, tomtates, grunts and other fish,” Gunter said. ”We would get a couple sheepshead, then the other fish would move in, so we’d have to bounce around. The sheeps were there, but a lot more bycatch.”

With schools he estimates in the thousands to tens of thousands around structures, the spawning season should last about a month. It happens once a year and is some of the best sheepshead fishing in the world. Land-based anglers have also had good luck fishing piers and bridges where sheepshead have schooled up.

“It’s usually good through the full moon in March, so three or four more weeks. A lot of people give up on them when the water warms up and whitebait shows, but I’ll stay on them as long as they’re around,” Gunter said.

Captain John Gunter can be reached at (863) 838-5096.