View Full Version : Sheep Head, $11.95 per pound
Denied
03-12-2002, 02:08 PM
Visited a new market in our area and wondering by the fish case I see "Great Lakes White Fish" I did not recognize the meat and ask the guy at the counter to turn a fillet over so I could see the skin side. As my chin hit the floor, big two toned brown scales, that I have thrown back a million of. They were marked $11.95 per pound. Once again I've thrown away a fortune :).
Marble Eyes
03-12-2002, 02:28 PM
Man-o-man I could have retired after two day fishing trip! :)
SLIPKNOT
03-12-2002, 02:29 PM
Yea, I can imagine how much money I threw away fishing on green bay this summer with some sheephead over 20 lbs!! I can't believe people eat those things.
Even for 12 bucks a pound could you bring yourself to put one slimy smelly aggravating %$*#head into your fishbox ??? YUCK
Joe
Backwater Eddy
03-12-2002, 03:27 PM
I think I could buy a new 610 center councel with a 2 months catch on the lower Red?
Geeez.....maybe I need a bigger freezer, eh?
;)
Backwater Eddy ~ ~><sUMo> ~ ><>
http://home.talkcity.com/ResortRd/backwtr1/index.html
Homer
03-12-2002, 03:35 PM
Dean:
You might want to be careful before buying too much else from this market. If they're labeling sheepies as whitefish, who knows what's in their hamburger? :-)
Ed, are the sheepfish plentiful in the Red? I get a kick out of hooking up with a big sheephead fishing ultralite for crappies on Red Lake. In fact, I'm not sure they aren't just a bass in disguise!
Have you ever tried eating a sheepshead?
I was fishing down by Redwing last fall, and caught several very nice sheepshead.
I put them in my livewell, primarily to show my grandson, who had never seen a sheepshead before.
When I got home, and was cleaning the Walleyes and Sauger, he asked about the other fish.
I expllained that these were sheepshead. He then, said - we are going to clean them aren't we??
I said -- well - if you want to. So we cleaned them.
I simply filleted them - the same as I would any other fish. Easy and quick.
When my wife cooked the walleyes and sauger, she cooked the sheepshead the same way. i.e. eggs, cracker crumb - fried.
She "saved" the sheeps head for me. I had them for lunch, and I actually found them to be very good. They actually reminded me of the sword fish that I had eaten on the east coast. They have a very firm texture - that is much more firm - and a mild flavor.
You might give one a try the next time that you catch one - you might like it.
Take care
REW
Backwater Eddy
03-12-2002, 04:04 PM
They are very sought after as table fair by the avid Asian angling community in the region. I measured up lots and lots of them fresh water Drum while on the creel survey in 2001-2002.
Good to see they found a place in the local food chain. It is much better to see them utilized them tossed upon the banks to stink up the fishing areas we all utilize. I really hate seeing any fish wantonly wasted, no matter what they are!
I have tried them, they were not exactly my type of fish. It could have been in my preparation, not the fish?
Backwater Eddy ~ ~><sUMo> ~ ><>
http://home.talkcity.com/ResortRd/backwtr1/index.html
Denied
03-12-2002, 04:53 PM
You may be on to something, I have not seen a cat or dog in that neighborhood since this place opened :).
CarpetBagger
03-12-2002, 05:03 PM
11.95....any1 else think thats INSANE!! LoL and this whole time ive been hearing the best recipe for sheephead is to set ur oven to 450 degrees put a sheephead in a wet paper bag cook it for 30min take it out throw away the sheephead and eat the bag...lol
CB
Gilligan
03-12-2002, 05:10 PM
Forget the Gilligan handle... I will now be known as SHEEPSHEAD FRED!
I will be listed in the Fortune 500 by years end!
Soggydog
03-12-2002, 05:41 PM
At 11.95 a pound, maybe we can get the commercial fisherman to target Sheepshead. In that case they can call them what they want.
Backwater Eddy
03-12-2002, 05:47 PM
Ya, there are many to be had in some areas.
I have seen them up to #18 caught on shad Rap's while trolling for eyes in the fall on the Canadian end. Sumo sheephead! Man the big ones can get your heart racing when you think it's a crabby greenback!
Backwater Eddy ~ ~><sUMo> ~ ><>
http://home.talkcity.com/ResortRd/backwtr1/index.html
Adman
03-12-2002, 06:41 PM
Howdy!!
Can you imagine how rich we'd all be by now? Especially those of us that fish The Mississippi River, Green Bay and the Winnebago system???? Jeez, my mind reels at the fortune I have tossed back over the years!!!!
Actually, let's spear head the movement for all markets and restaurants to use these "Whitefish" Can you imagine the pressure taken off the walleye and perch stocks? And the economical boom to the commercial fishermen?
Wow, I can actually see the return of the times when commercial fishermen and anglers co existed hand in hand in the Great Lakes!
Have fun........B-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a...........R
Have fun..................R
beetle
03-12-2002, 06:43 PM
We commercial fish for sheepshead on the MIssissippi. They only bring 10 cents per pound in the rough. 65 cents per pound dressed whole, and 1.40 per pound for the fillets. Anyone who pays 11.95 per pound is---well,----And the same goes for the person who charges that much. I know, I know, whatever the market can stand price wise, but this is ridiculous!!!!
Water Dog
03-12-2002, 08:12 PM
This going to sound real bad , however it is a true story .
Fishing out of St.Joe , Mi . We sometimes can not keep the sheephead off the hooks . Two of the guys who work in my plant kept telling us , (Bring us those poor man's lobster) (We will show you what good eatin is)
I DID AND THEY DID !
Once upon a time, when there was commercial fishing for sheepshead in Bago, the filets were marketed in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas as Winnebago Whitefish!
The Twin City Rod and Gun Club (Neenah &Menasha Wis. not those other twins) had a sheepshead fry every year back when I lived in the area and belonged to the club. The filets were either batter diped and fried; or boiled in salt water, chilled, and served with shrimp sauce. The fried fish were pretty good, better than some other fish I have had ordered off of a menu. The boiled ones were excellent. If you catch them in the spring or fall when the water is cold they are much better than during the summer months. When you're young (a very long time ago), layed off, the unemployment checks are several weeks away in the mail, and you can't afford a jar of peanut butter, even sheepshead taste like a meal fit for a king.
Stump
03-13-2002, 01:38 AM
I was wondering if the sheephead you saw was smoked? This post reminds me of a trip to the store my wife and I had about two years ago.I was checking out the fish when I saw it!The store had smoked sheephead for sale and it was $9 and something a lb.I couldnt believe it.I was LMFAO! They called it something else but it was sheephead alright!I was joking around with the guy at the fish counter asking him where the carp were.....Ill be ****ed if he didnt say they dont carry them anymore,and he was serious!This was no little at the corner store either this was a Jewel store.OH WELL, "snag it and tag it" I guess.
Tight lines
Stump
beetle
03-13-2002, 03:52 AM
Buyer Beware!
A sheepshead by any other name is still a sheepshead. They are a member of the perch family, cousin to the walleye. When taken care of and fixed properly they have the texture and flavor of the walleye. They make very good table fare even in the summer if put on ice immediately. They are an oily fish, so the smaller ones, (2lbs. and under)are the best for eating.
SUPERTROLLER
03-13-2002, 04:37 AM
Water Dog, I'm just up the coast from you, in Holland. We have often given away our "Poor Man's Lobster" to the pleasure boaters that circle us when we fight one of these big nasty's into the boat. We think of it as sweet revenge on the hordes that plague us all summer long. When they ask us what it is we tell them "Fresh water Drum, the poor man's lobster. Do you want some good eating fish." Seems like a couple times a year we get people to eat the Sheep. Then we motor off to reset lines and chuckle. My partner would rather keep the pike and walleye we catch.
Also a tip to avoid the Sheephead,,,, speed up to 2.5 or better. Seems to get us a higher percentage of Walleye instead of Sheephead.
Northernhawk
03-13-2002, 06:25 AM
Sheephead are not in the perch family. They are the only freshwater representative of the Drum family in North America. Cousin of the infamous Black Drum and Red Drum {Redfish}, highly regarded sportfish of our east and gulf coasts. Related to many species of "Croakers", most all Drums and Croakers are highly valued as food fishes.
Marble Eyes
03-13-2002, 07:13 AM
SuperTroller - Do you have any open water over that way other than the Big lake. I'd like to get out on Friday if the weather permits.
I'll give you all the Lobster I catch :)
Jim Ordway
03-13-2002, 07:34 AM
I think the whitefish and sheephead fish are being confused. Whitefish are a species that are real popular in Lake Superior, and caught mostly thru ice by anglers and commercially in summer. They do have some similarity to sheephead with the mouth position and body, but as I recall, the whitefish is a little more tubular, whereas the sheephead we all love to catch are our spinner rigs, is more bass like in shape. There may be more to this that a biologist can help out with, but the whitefish to have a specific market commercially.
See ya on the water,
Neal/CO
03-13-2002, 09:50 AM
Whitefish really get a bum rap!! They get lumped into the same category as carp, drum and suckers, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Here in Colorado we have good Whitefish populations in the Colorado River and its Tribs, the Roaring Fork and Eagle Rivers. While most of the purist fly snobs look down on them, I don't. They have saved many trips for me when the slimers wouldn't touch my nymphs! They are strong fighters in current and are excellent eating. While I love to catch big trout, I don't like their taste!! Whitefish fill an important niche and don't get the respect they deserve.
I have caught lots of fresh water Drum at Bonny Res. on crawler harnesse's but never eaten one?
Marble Eyes
03-13-2002, 11:20 AM
This reminds me of my days working for a fur buyer. Every year just before Thanksgiving and Christmas, several fellas out of Grand Rapids would drive up approx. 40 miles and get Coon Carcasses like 50 at a time. They would then go back to the City and sell them for around 5 to 10 bucks a piece...
One time they told the fellow who owned the place, that He would buy all he could get for the Christmas season just as long as we Left the Feet and tail on so they could tell what they were buying :)
Seems they though perhaps we would mix up the occassional oppossum or "whatever" with a coon!
Funny thing, If we were out of froze carcasses they would actually pull one or two that had been getting sun rippened out of a 55 gallon barrel we had out back.
I still shake my head at that! And they Always came back for more.
Smitty
03-13-2002, 01:27 PM
Huh, I thought the only "Sheepie" that was worth that kind of money is the one in Erie dragging around my brand new (at the time) $100 Abu Anti-backlash reel and a Berkley Hotrod!!!
I'm only on Erie 1 week a year and even at $1.95/lb I could have been retired by now. You guys out there would have to be living in the lap of luxury. :-)
SUPERTROLLER
03-13-2002, 03:17 PM
I am pretty sure EVERYTHING is open water around here now. As warm as it has been and as fast as ice conditions were deteriorating last time I was out ice fishing I can't imagine that any ice is still on the lakes around here. I know Port Sheldon and Lake Macatawa are open for sure so you can get out for browns and Steelies if that's what you mean too. Good Luck fishing. I might be out on Saturday from Port Sheldon by the bubbler.