Sheephead/ drum after iceout?

[Fulldraw84]

I want to start going after some drum this year before bass season. Does anyone know if these are easily caught during the spring? Figured I could learn a lake and catch some fish at the same time.

Thanks Joe

[Stick500]

I posted the same question a year ago and got a few tips

Link to last year's thread

I would think it would be pretty hard to find them in a lake this early- might have better luck at a river

later in the summer I learned that crawdads were the hot ticket to catch the big ones

also, the sheephead fishery may be getting much bigger in the future as it's been found that in many waters they eat zebra mussels

I love catching them, but one thing I found out about them this summer is that they put up a pretty good fight for awhile, but then tire easily- they don't have the stamina of the mighty carp

also, their bites at times are barely detectable, even the big ones

they actually taste pretty good (don't eat the big ones though) early in the season- just remember to trim the fat off the sides- for their size, their fillets are pretty small though- eat 'em fresh though, freezing kinda ruins them

[JBMasterAngler]

I catch them in april when I'm fishing for white bass on the vermillion river. They're not as active as they are in the summer, but you can still catch plenty. I usually catch them when I'm trolling small cranks right down the middle of the river, but the traditional crawler on the bottom would probably work best.

[Fulldraw84]

Thanks for the replies guys.The place I'll be trying is a river system so hopefully the fishing is good early. I do want to give them a try as food also. I haven't heard any negative, except for the big ones.

[Lunker]

In the rivers they will be active. I've caught lots in April, some as early as March. The most I have caught were near water discharges of various kinds (not necessarily warm water), stream outlets, and under dams.

[davidbigreelz]

The rivers are where I would go too. I usually shore fish but anywhere there is slack after some riffles, the border between the two is where I have always caught em. I just drag a crawler on a #4 eagle claw across the bottom. And yes I have always thought they bite rediculously timidly too.

These beauties are awsome smoked though. Stuff em with brown sugar and a quicker smoke with some apple or cherry.

[TruthWalleyes]

I troll small cranks after ice out for big crappies and sunfish and those darn sumo sheephead will CRUSH it. Typically in real shallow water at this time in the warmer bays.

[ec30_06]

A crawler on the bottom will get you plenty in a river right after ice out. Look for warm water and baitfish. A creek inlet will have both

[Fulldraw84]

Thanks for the help guys. I cant wait until this hard water is gone.

[itchmesir]

Thanks for the help guys. I cant wait until this hard water is gone.

preach it!

[Comit 2]

Google Gaspergou, you will find more info there.

I think Gaspergou, in cajin means shell cracker or something that refers to them eating bivalves.

In the summer when I troll crankbait like the small frenzy shad, I catch a lot of freshwater drum.

Madison lake has a sheephead fishing tournament. Most fish at this event are caught on minnows and jig.

[cookie129]

we have some outstanding sheep head fishing here on upper red lake. They love white

[mrklean]

also, the sheephead fishery may be getting much bigger in the future as it's been found that in many waters they eat zebra mussels

Never heard that before where did you find this out at?

[mainbutter]

I've ONLY caught them early season (typically when I'm drowning crawlers for rough fish) before various openers, in rivers typically in slack water near fast current. Crawler, hook, sinker.

[Stick500]

Never heard that before where did you find this out at?

I read it an article sometime in the last year that was quoting a fishery biologist who was studying animals that may be eating zebra mussels. He concluded that at this time they weren't necessarily eating zebras in all waters. It had something to do with there being a difference in shell strength/hardness that made them more palatable to sheepies in certain waters. Can't tell you exactly where they were and weren't eating them though. I'll do a little research later tonite and let you guys know if I find anything.

Wouldn't it be awesome if sheepshead were able kept those dam things at bay (and give us schools of whoppers to catch)?!

[Stick500]

this is from an Ohio State study that was done in Lake Erie in 1997 so it is a bit dated

There has been some research on the freshwater drum's impact on the invasive Zebra mussel in northern lakes and rivers. Zebra mussels are consumed by freshwater drum once they reach a length of 25 cm (9.8 in), but drum under 35 cm (14 in) in length only eat small mussels and reject the larger ones.[20] The fish larger than 35 cm (14 in) exhibit less selectivity and consume mussels relative to their availability in lakes. These larger fish are not restricted by their ability to crush the zebra mussels, but they are restricted by the size of the clumps that they can remove.[20] Though the drum do eat zebra mussels, they are not having an impact on the spread of this invasive species. Though they do not control the population of zebra mussels, they do contribute to a high mortality in the zebra mussels.[10]

and this is from a 1999 study on Lake Champlain- it discusses the thinness of the shells in that lake

Fish predation on zebra mussels is regularly occurring at a number of sites throughout Lake Champlain. Sheepshead, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, and rock bass have all learned to recognize zebra mussels as food. More than 50% of the pumpkinseeds and about 40% of the sheepshead collected had zebra mussels in their guts, suggesting that these fish are commonly consuming zebra mussels as prey. About 15% of the yellow perch collected contained zebra mussels in their guts. The large numbers of pumpkinseed, sheepshead, and yellow perch in the lake suggest that these fish have the potential to significantly reduce the abundance of zebra mussels over time. We also suspect that we have not yet documented all the fish species that are preying on zebra mussels in Lake Champlain.

Because the concentration of calcium in the water of Lake Champlain is very low, the zebra mussels in Lake Champlain have very thin shells. The thin shells of the zebra mussels in Lake Champlain may make them especially vulnerable to predation, and this may explain why we are seeing more predation on zebra mussels in this lake than in other North American locations.

The relationship we found between temperature and fish presence and foraging activity clearly suggest seasonality in the use of the zebra mussel beds. If we can begin to characterize the combination of water temperature, bottom habitat structure, water currents, and other factors that influence fish distribution, this may help us to estimate the overall impacts of fish predation on zebra mussels in Lake Champlain.

apparently no more recent studies- I would love to know what is going on in the Mississippi- maybe it's worth cutting one open in May as these studies say that is the most likely time of the year for them to be eating them (they found months when they weren't eating any)

[mrklean]

Interesting read

[Cthulhu]

Drum are pretty well built to eat just about anything, including mussels. Not much surprise that they have adapted to eating Zebras too. I have been told one of the bigger difficulties from Drum eating zebras is how strongly they attach to the rocks, I imagine any Zebs growing in sandy or gravelly areas are easier to eat. Drum have huge crushing teeth so all they have to do is get the mussel to the back of their throat and it is done, getting it there being a potential problem in some locations.

I'm sure the thin shells really impact the effect of other species eating them though, I don't think Perch and Rock Bass are well adapted mussel eaters (could be mistaken). I'm sure Pumpkinseeds like the small Zeebs, they are well adapted to eating snails and small mussels.

The same thing is happening with the Quagga Mussels in Lake Michigan, they are an invasive closely related to Zeebs. I bet those Green Bay drum are loaded with Quaggas. We kept a bunch of Whitefish from Green Bay this winter and the majority had stomach contents that were dominated by Quagga Mussels.

[Stick500]

went after sheepies for an hour and half on the Miss. down here at Dubuque, IA on Sunday (the warmest day of the week in the mid-60s)

not much action and when reeling in to call it a day I felt something and brought in about 2-foot somewhat skinny sheepie- didn't put up much of a fight but at least I scored the first one of the year