Sheephead ???

[Dave Ash]

Has anyone taken the time to clean and eat one.. I was fishing in holland today and gave away about 15 of them as a i caught them to people that swear they are good.


What do you think or know?

[Burksee]

Dave,

If you do a "search" you'll find this topic has been discussed before with mixed reviews.

Its been a good long time but I remember as a youngster fishing with my grandpa that we'd keep them and he'd clean'em. Grandma would cook/fry them up and I dont recall not liking them then. :eek:

[Ladygill]

I can remember catching them in the Saint Clair River as a kid, but never ate one. Father always threw them back.

[RyGuy525]

We tried them once. They weren't terrible but its hard to get past there off colored flesh!

[Whit1]

Many years ago a good buddy of mine and I waded a favorite lake of ours up here one evening. We caught smallies, walleyes, bulllheads, a channel cat, and several sheephead. We decided to take a mess of fish home and cook them up and sip beer after a very satisfying evening of fishing.

The sheephead had firm, white flesh, filleted easily and were quite good fried up on a griddle, at least as good as any bass.

The lake was firm bottomed and dropped down to about 90 FOW at it's deepest. I think water quality might be a key to how they fare on the table. The one we tried weighed about 2 lbs. and that might also make a difference, being smaller.

[steve ypsi]

kept some last year, Fried up one fairly quick after cleaning, wasn't bad but a tad stronger than I like, the rest I put in the freezer with one cap full of Italian dressing to a quart bag of water and fish, got them out a week or 2 ago and they were good,
If I had soaked the first over night in the Italian dressing mix (one Cap full was enough) and used a couple of rinses before putting them in the Dressing mix that first one it would have been a lot better
I keep them all now, I deep fry in a fryer in peanut oil pretty crisp, Don't like
any fish unless they are crispy
I couldn't tell a lot of difference between the large or small but the 14 to 16 should be better I would think
and By the way Putty my dog likes them to and she is fussy little buger

[alex-v]

....put in the freezer with one cap full of Italian dressing to a quart bag of water and fish, ...
Uusually I just filet them and then cut them into pieces about the size of my thumb. Then, I put salt and a pinch of pickling spices into a small pot of boiling water. The fish is boiled until it turns white and drained. Serve with cocktail sauce and it is like eating shrimp. The flesh will firm up when cooked and does not seem to get as flakey as other fish does.

The Italian dressing idea sounds like something to try at least once.

[bully06]

I heard there is a way to boil them (poor man's lobster) and dip them in butter. I'm sure someone on this site has the recipe.

[alex-v]

I heard there is a way to boil them (poor man's lobster) and dip them in butter. I'm sure someone on this site has the recipe.
Yes, boil them in salted water with a pinch or two of pickling spices added. I have heard that refered to as "poor man's shrimp" and "poor man's lobster" over the years.

[Dedicated Sportsman]

I kept a few last year. I pan fried them and they tasted like i was eating some kind of very strong seafood. And when i bit ino them it was kind of hard to bite into like a scallop or something. Throw em back and keep some real fish.:)

[Nascar31Fan]

Had them smoked before and that was good.

[Burksee]

I heard there is a way to boil them (poor man's lobster) and dip them in butter. I'm sure someone on this site has the recipe.Have not done sheep head this way but we'll have salmon frequently this way in the fall! Water & Beer (75/25), Bay's Seafood Salt (about 1/4 cup). Cut your fish into large bite size pieces. Bring mixure to a boil before putting fish in. Cook'em about 3 to 5 minutes. Service with melted butter. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! :corkysm55

[steelhead1]

I've eaten alot of rough fish(carp, suckers, etc.). The key is to fillet them off the skin and soak in salt water over night. Then you rinse the fillets and fry. I've cooked carp for some buddies that to this day still don't believe me:lol: . You should give it a try, the worst case is you won't like it.

[steve ypsi]

I've eaten alot of rough fish(carp, suckers, etc.). The key is to fillet them off the skin and soak in salt water over night. Then you rinse the fillets and fry. I've cooked carp for some buddies that to this day still don't believe me:lol: . You should give it a try, the worst case is you won't like it.
I an going to try the carp next, small ones under 16 to 18 inchs.
I lived in Fl for a year, ate the below
Mackrel
sea trout
grouper
I liked the sheeps head better
I think that first one I fried should have been soaked like you said and it would have been good, the ones I froze in water with the cap full of Italian were really good

[Outdoorzman]

Smoking them is good, just be cautious not to "over smoke" them as they do not have the oils that other smoked fish typically have.
As far as soaking, I just read that soaking them in milk overnight nuetralizes the acids in the flesh which is the direct cause of the "fishy" taste.

Try them and see. The worst you'll have to do is brush your teeth :)

[toto]

I haven't read all the replies, but I remember Sailor talking about this at the ice fishing extravaganza a couple of years ago in Muskegon. He said, if fixed right, they are quite good. Maybe you could PM him and he'll tell ya how.

[Longliner_382]

Smoke em if you got em:D And if you have kids, they have calsium deposits in their head. They look like thick finger nails, Great lucky stones for a kids tackle box;)

[beerun]

Smoke em if you got em:D And if you have kids, they have calsium deposits in their head. They look like thick finger nails, Great lucky stones for a kids tackle box;)

Yup, have taken out the lucky stones as a kid. I still tell my buddies about them when we get any waldo fishin'. They don't believe me, so next time I will cut 'em out and throw them in their mouth when they yawn!

[Ladygill]

Smoke em if you got em:D And if you have kids, they have calsium deposits in their head. They look like thick finger nails, Great lucky stones for a kids tackle box;)

I can remember hearing that they had "stones" in their heads as a kid too. Never seen any before because the sheephead always got thrown back.