I never ate one. We grew up giving them to any black folks that were fishing nearby. They were always glad to have them, it seemed.

People are funny about the animals they will eat. Rarely does their choice hinge on taste.

They are quite common in parts of Michigan. They are excellent smoked, at least the smaller ones. I have never eaten one fried or canned, but I'd think that they would be just fine.

Freshwater drum have one of the largest otoliths and some are used to make quite nice earrings

Scale,gill, gut and grill. Good stuff. Very similar meat to Redfish (salt water drum)

We use to just chuck em back, not anymore. Actually target them in the spring now.

Sheepshead... Throw it in the bushes for the c****, and the skunks

This is a problem. Just because you don't like to eat them doesn't mean you have to waste them. A place that my boys and I like to fish is constantly littered with sheepshead carcasses by wasteful and unlawful slobs. If you don't like them, just put them back in the river, rather than create a stinking mess for the next guy.

My great grandfather always claimed "you can eat anything but a horseshoe crab!", lol.. course the Chinese proved him wrong...

but the point is, while it may not all be gourmet fare, it won't kill you...remember Crocodile Dundee and the Abo..." tastes like s... , but you can live on it..."

I catch a ton of them while jigging for walleyes.Finally decided to try some.I'll try anything once.They weret terrible,,but definately too fishy tasting for me.I did think they would be great smoked,,but havent done that yet.

What in the world is a c****? You apparently have some strange stuff in your bushes.

They need looked after a little more than other fish. You can’t drag them around on a stringer in warm surface water all day and have them turn out good. When I catch them off the sand bar by the house I clean them as I catch them and get them in the frig on a cookie cooling rack. If I’m in the boat, I kill, gill and huck them on ice in a cooler dedicated for fish. IMO, they are not just “OK”. Properly handled they are as good as anything that swims. Nobody in my crew likes “fishy” fish but they all eat grilled drum when I make it.

After cleaning, it’s best to leave them in the fridge on a rack over night so they dry out a bit. Makes for way better grilling. If they’re too fresh they kinda poach in their own juices and can turn out a little mushy. Dried overnight they have a firm, flakey flesh. Kind of translucent looking like a salt water fish.

… why are you so cold hearted 330

… you could have fed a tribe of starving Africans with those fish

Yep yote, not that way as much anymore. Still a few poor folk that eat them.
No one i know would ever eat a sheephead. Especially after trying one as a kid.
We catch walleye, perch and crappie.
No matter what anyone says, they do not compare to any of the above 3.

We call them drum they make noise when you pick them up I don't like them but they are fun to catch.

I like em there pretty good

I eat one time to time when caught in early spring cold water.

Fer sure. My rule is never let them get warmer than when you pulled them out of the water. Always work warmer to colder. We do the same thing with catfish and lake trout on the summer. Dedicated fish cooler full of ice goes a long way.

Trapset knows what's going on.

We caught a lot of them long ago when we ran setlines on the Mississippi here. My Dad used to smoke most of them but in the late 70's through the early 80's he'd scale, gut and take the head off a lot of them and give them away to people who wanted them. They can't be that bad as nobody complained that I know of. People don't eat fish like they used to though as the majority don't want to take the time to prepare a meal as it's easier to buy pre packaged food especially something like fish.

Smoked they are good and size doesn't matter. We got some big sheephead. Some went over 20 lbs. easy. We used to have a coffee can full of the clackers that are in their head. No idea why we kept them from time to time but we did.

Now I had gar once and I don't need to do that again. I guess some people like that fish and I'd rather have sheephead.

Can a MOD do this?
No Avoiding Profanity Filter

I am not sure we can be friends anymore.