Sheepshead
Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: five to seven sharp dark vertical bars on a silver-grey body — the convict stripes. The look-alike to rule out is Black Drum: young black drum have similar bars but carry chin barbels and lack the incisor teeth.
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| Scientific name | Archosargus probatocephalus |
|---|---|
| Also called | convict fish, bay snapper |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Porgy |
| Temperature | Feeds well from the mid-50s to the low 80s °F; the big spawning aggregations gather in late winter and early spring. |
How to identify a Sheepshead
- Five to seven sharp dark vertical bars on a silver-grey body — the convict stripes.
- Protruding, human-like incisor teeth at the front of the mouth for scraping barnacles.
- A steep forehead and a strong spiny dorsal fin.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Black Drum | Young black drum have similar bars but carry chin barbels and lack the incisor teeth. |
| Atlantic Spadefish | Spadefish are far deeper and rounder with a tiny mouth and a trailing dorsal lobe. |
Read the full entry for Black Drum and Atlantic Spadefish.
Where it lives
Atlantic and Gulf coasts from the mid-Atlantic to Brazil. Lives on hard structure — bridge and dock pilings, jetties, oyster bars and nearshore wrecks — grazing barnacles and crustaceans.
Temperature
Feeds well from the mid-50s to the low 80s °F; the big spawning aggregations gather in late winter and early spring.
The conditions that matter
Sheepshead are structure fish that feed on moving water, and they are one of the few inshore species whose bite is often best on cold, settled, high-pressure winter days. Tide stage against structure is the pattern; the spawning move to nearshore rock happens on a water temperature cue in the high 50s.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about sheepshead into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.