The RIGHT WAY To Rig Live Shrimp To Catch Sheepshead
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
How should you be rigging your live shrimp to catch sheepshead?
What common mistakes to people make when rigging live shrimp?
Check this out if you want to catch more sheepshead RIGHT NOW!
Learn more here!!
How To Rig Live Shrimp For Sheepshead
The assembly of this rig is simple and you need only a few pieces of gear.
You need a small 1/16 oz. bullet weight and a 1/0 octopus inline hook.
How To Hook The Shrimp
For this rig, you are inserting the hook through the head of the shrimp.
First, carefully tear off the tail of the shrimp because it adds scent to attract the sheepshead to the bait.
Then, take your octopus inline hook and hook it just underneath the front horn of the shrimp on its head.
There is a clear spot just underneath the top horns on the shrimp where you want to put the hook.
Be careful not to be too far back in the darker area of the head because that will kill the shrimp.
Where To Place Your Shrimp
The main key to fishing for sheepshead with live shrimp is keeping that shrimp as close as possible to the structure itself.
Ideally, you want your bait right where pilings bend and the current is sweeping around them.
When fishing with live bait, you want your bait to drift with the current into the structure.
If you can’t set yourself up in that perfect scenario, then it is best to get up as close as possible to the structure you are fishing.
Maintain the tension on your line and wait to feel that bite from a sheepshead.
If you are using a circle hook, you DO NOT want to set the hook aggressively.
Instead, you need to just reel up and fast to let the hook set itself in corner of the fish’s mouth.
How To Rig Live Shrimp For Sheepshead [VIDEO]
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Conclusion
This is a fantastic time of year to target some pilings and underwater structures for sheepshead that may be holding close.
Live shrimp or artificial shrimp and crustacean lures are an excellent way to hook up with sheepshead hugging structure.
Be sure to get up and close to the pilings where the sheepshead will likely be hanging around!
Do you have any more questions about live shrimp fishing for sheepshead?
Let me know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to learn more about how to catch spooky fish, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
P.S. – Want to catch big, good-eating, and feisty sheepshead with live bait or artificial lures, near pilings and underwater structure? Check out our Sheepshead Mini-Course.
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Thanks for that info. Learned something new already.
Good catch thank you for the information you shared…
No problem Felix, thanks for watching!
Nice sheepshead Wyatt! I enjoyed meeting you and talking wade fishing at the Salt Strong meet-up in Ruskin last Saturday. I used the rigging technique in your video wade fishing docks yesteday and landed a nice 28 inch redfish. We had air temp’s in the 50’s yesterday morning and I think breaking the tail off the shrimp added enough scent to trigger the strike since it was a slow bite. Thanks again for the rigging tip.
It was great meeting you as well Roy!!! Congrats on your redfish sir! Glad this tip was of use to you!
Great work Wyatt! Those sheepshead are on steroids and plenty of them too! I would have never suspected so many big ones in that location.
Yup! It’s surprising to me how often I find isolated hard structure with TONS of big sheeps on them… Could be a mixture of less pressure (at unsuspecting spots) and less competition (with other predators at larger structures)
Thanks Wyatt!
No problem Jerry! Glad you enjoyed this tip sir!
When is it best to hook behind the horns and when is best to hook through tail? There are other videos with Salt Strong that shows hooking through pinched off tail.
Hey Tom,
I was actually on this trip and was using shrimp rigged through the tail like you asked. The reason I rigged that way is because I was already tied up and ready to go with jig heads. When using jig heads through the tail is my favorite way to use the live shrimp, but if I was using a circle hook like Coach Wyatt then I also would have been going under the horn like he showed here. One benefit you have by using the circle hook is that you don’t really need to set the hook.
Hope this helps, I’m sure Wyatt will also have his own input here!
That tail hook is great when you’re just free lining a shrimp over an open area with no current… I used the horn hook because as I mentioned in the video, there was a bit of current and I wanted my shrimp to suspend down to the bottom of the pilings and kick around till it was found by a sheepshead.
If you’d like to see a tutorial on head vs. tail rigging, check this tip out: https://saltstrongdev.wpengine.com/articles/live-shrimp-rigging-head-tail/
Hi Wyatt,
Nice job! Did you already know sheepies would be there or were you trying various structures known to hold sheepshead?
Hey Rick! We’d planned to do this tip regardless, but we had caught a few before we started filming. Believe it or not though, we pre-planned these pilings to be a sheeper hotspot! You can see it in the full Insider report that was posted a few hours ago.
Awesome tip, never thought of pulling off the tail. Can’t seem to find the insider report for this one though.
Here’s the report Matthew: Winter Exploration Trip for Redfish, Flounder, & Sheepshead [Insider Report]
Awesome! Thank you.
Nice sheepy there! What test line do you use and do you bother with a leader if you use braid? I would guess 10-15# braid with maybe a 20# leader would suffice but not sure if that’s over doing it.
Thanks Scott! Ideally, I’ll use a leader that’s a bit longer and tougher than my normal flats fishing leader.
3 feet of 30lb leader should hold up fine if a big sheeper wraps me around a piling with barnacles on it. I still will use the 10lb braid!
Great Video Coach Wyatt!!
Thanks so much Anthony!