THE SHEEPSHEAD FAMILY
(_Sparidæ_)
This family embraces the sheepshead, porgies, and sea-breams. It is
characterized principally by a heavy, compressed body, strong jaws and
teeth, the front ones incisor-like and broad, and flat, grinding teeth
or molars in the back of the mouth, like a pavement of small, rounded
pebbles, for crushing the shells of mollusks.
_Archosargus probatocephalus._ The Sheepshead. Body short,
deep, and compressed, with large scales; head 3-1/2; depth 2 to
2-1/2; eye 4; D. XII, 10 or 12; A. III, 10 or 11; scales
8-48-15; mouth large, nearly horizontal, maxillary 2-2/3 in
head; incisors 3/4, entire in adult; molars in 3 series above
and 2 below; gill-rakers about 3 + 6; dorsal and anal spines
notably heteracanthous; frontal bone between the eyes convex
and honeycombed; occipital crest broad and honeycombed.
_Stenotomus chrysops._ The Scup. Body ovate-elliptical; head
3-1/2; depth 2; eye 4; D. XII, 12; A. III, 11; scales 8-50-16;
profile steep; nape convex; a strong depression in front of the
eye; snout short; temporal crest obsolete; incisor teeth
narrow; molars in 2 rows above; gill-rakers small, about 6 +
10; caudal fin forked; top of head, snout, orbitals, and chin
naked; a scaly sheath at base of soft dorsal and anal fins;
scales on cheeks.
THE SHEEPSHEAD
(_Archosargus probatocephalus_)
In his account of the fishes in the vicinity of New York, in 1788,
Schöpf, a surgeon in the British army, placed the sheepshead in the
European genus _Sparus_, but gave it no specific name. From his
description the ichthyologist Walbaum, in 1792, named it
_probatocephalus_, which being translated means "sheep head." This fish
inhabits the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Cape Cod to Texas, where it
is common during the summer months, but it is especially abundant in the
bays of Florida during the entire year. Its body is nearly half as deep
as long, is much compressed, and elevated and arched over the shoulder.
The head is large, about a third of the length of the body, with a steep
profile, rounded in front of the eyes, which with its incisor teeth
bears a slight resemblance to the profile of a sheep. The mouth is
large, with strong incisor teeth in front, and several series of molar
teeth in both jaws. The general tint is dusky gray, with silvery lustre,
paling to the belly; about half a dozen broad, black bars cross the
body, from above downward, very distinct in the young, but becoming
fainter with age.
As might be inferred from the character of its teeth, the sheepshead
resorts to mussel shoals, oyster bars, bridge piers, and old wrecks,
where mussels and barnacles abound, and on which it feeds, pinching them
from their beds with its strong incisor teeth and crushing them with its
molars. It is gregarious, feeding in schools, especially in southern
waters, several hundred having been taken on a single tide at places in
Florida. It appears in northern waters in June and disappears in the
fall, probably wintering at great depths of the sea contiguous to the
coast. Its usual maximum weight in northern waters is from three to six
pounds, though occasionally reaching ten, fifteen, or even twenty
pounds, though these heavy fish are exceedingly rare. Its average size
in Florida is less than in the North.
It is highly esteemed on the East Coast as a dinner fish, baked or
boiled, and owing to its fine flavor has been called the turbot of
America, though it is really much superior, in northern waters, to that
vaunted aldermanic delicacy. In Florida, however, it is very lightly
esteemed as a food-fish, and is seldom eaten where other and better
fishes are available. Perhaps its abundance has something to do with its
depreciation, though I am convinced, from numerous trials and tests,
that it is not so good a fish in southern waters as in the North, having
a sharp, saline taste that is not agreeable to most palates. While
confined to salt and brackish waters in the North, it often ascends the
rivers of Florida to fresh water. I have seen it in the large springs,
the head waters of several rivers on the Gulf coast, its barred sides
being plainly discernible on the bottom at a depth of fifty or
seventy-five feet, in the clear and crystal-like water.
The difference in flavor between the sheepshead of the North and South
may perhaps be due to the character of their food. It is especially
noticeable that fishes of the salt water that pass the winter season in
the deep sea, as the salmon, shad, etc., possess a more superior flavor
than those that feed constantly and during the entire year along the
shores. While nothing is really known concerning the spawning habits of
the sheepshead in northern waters, it probably spawns in early summer.
From my own knowledge I can say that it spawns in Florida, on the Gulf
coast, during March and April. Its eggs are very small, about thirty to
the inch, are buoyant or floating, and hatch in two days.
A good rod for sheepshead fishing is the natural bamboo rod, known as
the striped-bass chum rod. It is light, and strong enough to withstand
the vicious tugs, spurts, and especially the propensity of boring toward
the bottom, that is characteristic of this fish. A rod of steel, or
lancewood, or ash and greenheart, or bethabara, though heavier, is
better and stronger. It should be about eight feet in length, with
double guides. A multiplying reel carrying sixty yards of braided linen
line, size E or F, Sproat hooks, Nos. 1-0 to 3-0 on gimp snells, with
sinkers, and a wide-mouthed landing-net, make up the rest of the tackle.
The short barb, with cutting edges, of the Sproat hook renders it
superior to the Virginia. Chestertown, or blackfish hooks formerly so
much in vogue for the sheepshead. A brass box-swivel is necessary for
connecting the line with the snell of the hook.
While the sheepshead often bites at all stages of the tide, the most
favorable time is about slack water; from that stage, to half flood or
half ebb, good success may usually be expected. The largest fish are
taken from a boat anchored over or near mussel shoals or oyster beds.
Smaller ones can be caught from old wharves or bridges whose piling is
studded with barnacles and mussels, and about which shrimp abound.
During slack water a light sinker is sufficient; but when the tide runs
strongly, heavier ones must be used, as it is imperative to keep the
bait near the bottom, especially if fishing from a boat. If fishing from
a wharf, it does not matter so much, provided the bait is deep enough to
prevent the fish from seeing the angler. While this is a precaution that
must be observed with all fishes, I do not think the sheepshead is so
shy a fish as some maintain; at least I have never found it so.
The best bait is shedder-crab, fiddlers, or hermit crabs. Clam bait,
though, is cheaper and more universally used in the North. In Florida
the fiddlers can be scooped up by the peck on the inside beaches of the
bays, and contiguous to good sheepshead fishing. If the clam is large,
the meat should be cut up for bait; but if quite small, or if mussels
are used, the shells may be merely cracked or smashed, and put on the
hook entire. The latter is the mode where the fish are scarce or shy,
but I prefer to use the meat only, discarding the shells; in the case of
fiddlers, when very small, they should be used _au naturel_, or whole.
The bait should be cast and allowed to sink, and the line reeled enough
to keep the bait off the bottom, but close to it. A taut line should be
maintained always, so as to feel the slightest nibble. If crab bait, or
cut clam, is used, the fish should be hooked, if possible, at the first
bite, however slight, by a quick and somewhat vigorous upward jerk of
the tip, otherwise the sheepshead is apt to nip off the bait; or if
sufficient force is not used, the hook fails to enter the well-armed
mouth. One or other of these contingencies is almost sure to follow, if
the fish be not hooked. A small sheepshead is a more adroit stealer of
bait than the cunner. It has a way of deftly pinching the bait from the
hook without much, if any, disturbance. When small clams or mussels are
used in the cracked shells, it is thought best by some anglers to give
the fish a little time to "shuck" the bait before jerking on the rod.
But my advice is to yank him just as quickly as if crab bait were
employed. To hesitate is to be defrauded of either the fish or the bait.
When the fish is hooked he should be kept from the bottom by the spring
of the rod, and brought as near the surface as possible. When line is
given during his frantic rushes, the spring and resistance of the rod
should never be lessened. Once on the surface he is easily kept there
until conquered; but if allowed to descend to the bottom, he is pretty
hard to manage, as his resistance then is very much greater, and he
endeavors to tear out the hook by forcing his jaws among the rocks and
débris or weeds. He should always be taken into the landing-net, and
care must be observed to avoid his strong and sharp fins when removing
the hook.
In Florida the sheepshead is almost gregarious, congregating about
oyster bars, old wharves, and near inlets in great numbers. At Colonel
Summerlin's wharf, at Punta Rassa, I knew of a man, fishing for market,
I presume, who took several hundred on a single tide. The wharf just
across the bay at Sanibel Island is also a famous locality for
sheepshead. The largest I ever caught in that state was just inside of
Little Gasparilla inlet, near a steep bank on the north side. The
settlers of Florida take them in cast-nets, and the commercial fishermen
in haul seines; the latter either ship them on ice, or salt them along
with mullet, as they take salt well. With the exception of the mullet,
the sheepshead is the most abundant fish of both the east and west
coasts of Florida, but it is seldom found in the dense salt water along
the keys at the southern end of the peninsula, as it is essentially a
brackish-water fish. The angler need never repine for a lack of sport in
the "flowery state" if he is fond of "sheepsheading," and he will have
no difficulty in securing bait, for the fiddlers are to be found in
myriads convenient to good fishing grounds.
THE SCUP
(_Stenotomus chrysops_)
Another fish of the _Sparidæ_ family is the scup, or porgy, which was
first described by Linnæus, in 1766, from specimens sent to him from
South Carolina by Dr. Garden. He named it _chrysops_, or "golden eye."
The names scup and porgy are derived from the Indian name scuppaug. The
porgy is mentioned, like the cunner, in deference to the ladies and the
rising generation of anglers, to whom it is fair game on the summer
excursions to the seashore. It is confined to the Atlantic coast from
Cape Cod to South Carolina, being especially abundant in northern
waters. A kindred species, the fair maid (_Stenotomus aculeatus_), is
common from Cape Hatteras southward, there taking the place of the
northern scup.
The porgy is a short, deep, and compressed fish, rather elliptical in
outline, its depth being nearly half of its length, and with the back
elevated over the nape. Its head is of moderate size, with a steep
profile, depressed in front of the small eye. The mouth is rather small
and the snout short. Its incisor teeth are very narrow and rather
conical or pointed, resembling canines; there are two rows of molar
teeth in the upper jaw. The color is brownish on the top of the head and
back with greenish and golden reflections, and bright and silvery below;
the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are dusky or mottled, and the pectoral
fin yellowish.
The scup appears along the shores of the East Coast about the first of
May, sometimes earlier, and continues until late in the fall, when it
retires to its winter quarters in the depths of the sea. It is a bottom
fish, feeding on crustaceans and small mollusks, and is found wherever
they abound on the outer shoals. It usually spawns in June; the eggs are
quite small, measuring about twenty-five to the inch; they are buoyant
or floating, and hatch in four or five days. When perfectly fresh it is
an excellent pan-fish, its flesh being firm, white, flaky, and of a
fine, sweet flavor, but owing to its abundance is not properly
appreciated. It grows to a foot or more in length, weighing a pound or
two, though its usual maximum length is ten inches, and weight half a
pound. Very rarely the oldest fish sometimes reach a length of fifteen
to eighteen inches, weighing from two to four pounds.
The scup is usually taken by hand-line and clam bait on the fishing
banks from the excursion steamers; but fishing from small boats anchored
over the shoals, with suitable tackle, is more sportsmanlike. It is a
very free-biting fish, but is not possessed of much gameness, though the
pleasure of angling for it is much enhanced by the employment of light
tackle.
A trout bait-rod is quite in order for the scup, though a light natural
cane rod about ten feet long, fitted with reel seat and guides, will
answer a good purpose. A small multiplying reel is not essential, though
it is an advantage in accommodating the line to different depths; and
then a larger fish than the scup may be hooked. The line should be of
small size, Sproat hooks Nos. 6 to 8 on gut snells, with leader three
feet long, connected to the line by a swivel-sinker, and of a weight
adapted to the strength of the tide. A float may be used in shallow
water to keep the bait from the bottom when clam or shrimp is used. In
localities where tautog, sea-bass, or weakfish are likely to be met
with, a heavier rod, like the Little Giant, or a light striped-bass rod,
may be of an advantage to one not accustomed to lighter rods, and the
hook may be a trifle larger.