Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Freshwater Drum Catchin and Eatin

Very interesting thread. I live near Lake Winnebago. It is a walleye fishery and sheaphead are shunned and hated.It is a 138,000 ac lake just full of them , plus 2 other good sized lakes connected to Winnebago. I started keeping them when I cut them up for catfish bait and noticed the white meat. I was a bit shy on a bluegill fry once on the Mississippi River so I put a couple sheaps on ice . I noticed the red meat or blood line so I just used the back meat and left the red out . They are a mild tasting fish if filleted this way and quite good if caught in good clean water. I dont mean to sound zealous for them but never understood the prejudice against them. They seem to be a mild tasting fish , kind of like northern or walleye, , if you can believe that, but true. I just fry them in butter on a cast iron pan , salt and pepper with tarter sauce. One of the reasons we started eating sheaps and whitebass is cause I love fresh fish and store bought is awfull and cost $8 lb. It takes about 4 sheaps or whitebass to make a pound.