I FINALLY DID IT!!

You folks ever been a bit gun shy of trying something new? I thought for sure, the day I saw a mong gentleman through a sheephead back in the drink, that they must be one disgusting and useless fish! Except for the recent publicity of being Zebra mussel feeders.

Not only did I keep one, I ran straight home, filleted it out, and cooked it up with a special recipe given to me by walleyefshr. I was more tempted to try Hawger’s planked recipe, but I went through with it, if for nothing else, the respected advice of a friend.

Folks, I gotta tell you…………….I just may throw all the walleyes back and keep a handful of those useless sheepers instead! I was shocked, amazed, and pleasantly surprised how tasty it was!

Now, I don’t want to persuade anyone to try this as well, but if you have the chance to try it from someone who knows what they’re doing, try it! Don’t freak! Just try it! It’s nowhere near as disgusting as hot dogs so just do it!

fshr bows…….glad you finally caught one of those tasty buggers………my daughter would rather eat a sheepie fillet than a DQ cone………plus when you catch one, usually much more meat than a sunnie or crappie……guess now the secret is out….did you saute’ some pup-er-oni treats for hors-de-ouvres?. lol

alright stillakid, congratulations for thinking outside of the mold. I agree with you, there is nothing wrong with eating the underappreciated sheep. They’re not quite at channel cat or perch level imo, but they’re not bad at all. In fact I can’t really think of any fish that I would consider undesirable. People throw eelpout on the ice in the winter, yet I’ve heard they’re just as good as walleye. Bottom line, you can’t judge a fish by it’s name or what it looks like or any preconcieved notion imo.

when it comes to fish, everyone has their own preferences…. its unfair to judge something you have never tried……. though its often done…….

still I know what I DO like and its a pretty short list…. if a fish has a white, flaky meat with no strong taste… thats the one I will like best…

I have a fishing buddy that will trade me my white bass for HIS walleye… thats a trade I will make everytime!

Well I guess I’m a little sheepish when it comes to eating sheep heads. I guess it is all in how it is prepared that would make the difference. I’m a fussy eater anyway.

Last year someone gave us some beef jerky and was it good. After we ate it he told us it was made from sheephead. Darn good stuff.

Way to go Kid! The lead off batter gets a hit. Mind if you share with us the secret recipe that has you ready to go out and catch more of these tasty critters? You know, just in case you pull up to my boat and ask to exchange some walleyes for sheeps. I want to know what I’m giving up! BAAAAAA!

The DNR had a nice writeup about sheepies in the Volunteer magazine about a year or two ago. Indications from that article were that they were pretty good to eat…..guess you proved it, way togo!

Pup,

I wanted to give them a try the next time I caught one, but I caught one today and decided I better not. Got about a ten pounder. I thought, wow, that’s enough to feed the whole family, then I thought about how many zeb’s that big gal could eat and I HAD to let her go! Maybe I’ll get a smaller one when I have the fortitude to go through with it. I ate them as a youngster and it was another one of those fish that ya say “there o.k. as long as they’re out of cold water.” It seems a lot of fish are that way. Oh well, maybe next time!

Rooster

Nope, they’re not BA-A-A-A-A-A-D! LOL! Rooster, I don’t know if I’d go with a 10 pounder either, just cuz my experience has it that younger/smaller fish of all species are better tasting. The one I kept came out of Lake Mallelieu. They’re not native to that little lake and I’m sure it was this spring’s spill over the dam (to the St. Croix) that dumped them, among many other species into that water. It’s not a cold water but the fish wasn’t hardly 2 lbs. so I went for it anyway. Would I trade walleyes for them? Probably not. When you’re hungry for walleye, you don’t run out and get a sheeper. But I’m thinking if the walldads aren’t filling the cooler, why not a couple “drummies”? I’m also thinking that if I head out for a couple of zebra grazers, the walleyes will either be bonus, or go right back in. You can’t hate me for putting the walleyes back in for you to catch can you? LOL! It was a good experience and I am going to add them to the dietary rations that my family enjoys! :O) As for the recipe, check with walleyfshr……………….he’s got it down!!!

Glad to hear you gave the sheepshead a try. As I stated in an earlier post, they are related to the walleyeand very good eating as long as you remember a few things.

(1) keep them as cold as possible,

(2) don’t go over the 2lb mark as any larger than that and you can almost see the oil dripping from them. (just kidding)

(3) most folks save only the loin that runs along the back and above the ribs to the tail. Once you fillet some you’ll know what I mean.

(4) your favorite barley pop helps anything taste better!!!!

ok… you got it down…. but did you keep it down??

LOL

man… what a pup wont eat…. *sheese*

hey rooster, where did you catch that ten pounder? I’ve been trying to catch a sheep that size for some time now. My biggest is just under 3. I’m not looking to eat the big ones either, just want to catch a trophy size sheep for the contest I’m in, where the person with the most species of fish wins (also awards for biggest fish of each species). Plus the person who catches the biggest fish overall is awarded. thanks.

by the way, right now i’m up to 28 species, tied for first.

Carpchaser….big sheepies can be caught all over the Ol’ Miss if you are willing to spend a few hours at it. I use crawdads (rip the pinchers off before putting the dad on your hook). Fish just above wingdams. I have caught big sheephead (7+ pounders) all most everytime out this year. We use them because smaller (3 -10 lb) flatheads love them too. I fish Pools 10-12, but have fished other pools with the same success. Was out 3 hours on Sunday and boated about 20…smallest one 2 pounds, biggest 7 3/4 lbs. Good luck. FYI…my biggest one this year was just under 23 lbs.

wow, thanks for that info. i didn’t realize those bigger ones were caught so often.

Stillakid2 – you need to change your picture icon to holding a sheepie. That’s got to be the the sickest thing I’ve read on this site.

Congrats on your experiment! I dont know if I can do it but, perhaps a few beers and more days of no Walleye and I may follow you home like a stray dog looking for a Sheepie and some Tums!

My partner and I were prefishing for the KS governors cup “eye tourney a couple yrs ago and he hooked a 28 lb sheepie, and first he thought he had old gramps walldad, only to be bummed by a huge sheeper….nice to see…..record was about 30 lbs.

Walleye 1,

Only a pre-conceived, educated misconception would make this sound disgusting. I grew up in a town that thought the St. Croix river had nothing but carp in it……………I’m happy most people still believe that! People around the globe cringe at the thought of Squid, but call it calamari and now tons of “finer” restaurants carry it as a regular, popular demand item. How about all the burgers you later found out were horse and kangaroo meat? (If you remember that McDonalds episode) It’s all in your heads my friends…………….I mean, I ate a fish…………..it’s not like it’s never been done before or a far cry from what you’ve probably done yourself. It’s A FISH! Knock, Knock……………..Ding, Ding! If you haven’t tried it, plant a little courage seed and maybe one day it’ll grow big enough to use.

It was also once thought that tomatoes were poisonous………………………………..or who was the genius that watched a hen lay an egg and decided he should crack that open for a taste? Raw eggs do NOT taste good, but somebody learned to cook that egg and look where we are today! It’s only disgusting if you’re unwilling to give it a fair examination.