by Alec Newell
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all photos by Newell 2/27/2016
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After the fall mullet run and the season holidays, the dropping winter water temperature triggers the local sheepshead bite; and for the past 16 years, February has been the month when the Jacksonville Offshore Fishing Club hosts their annual El Cheapo Sheepshead Tournament. What started out as a fund raising idea for the JOFC, has morphed into the largest sheepshead tournament in the world, with over 400 boats entered in the competition this year and a bucket of prizes worth about $100,000.
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| Inside the North Jetty |
Many of the commercial tournaments have evolved into media events with fishing teams in color coordinated uniforms and expensive boats covered in NASCAR type sponsor decals. The "El Cheapo" was conceived as an inexpensive family event with prizes donated from local vendors, special prizes for junior anglers, and fried fish dinners from the fresh catch weighed in by the competitors. The top prizes now include new boats, outboard motors, chartered fishing trips, cash prizes, and a bucket full of swag for all the junior anglers that exceeds the value of their $10.00 entry fee. The tournament's entry fee per boat is still only about 10 to 20 percent of what the "bigger" tournaments charge.
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| The Mayport Boat Ramp |
Selecting the sheepshead as a tournament fish was another way to quietly mock the glam events. The sheepshead has a blue collar image. Their natural habitat is jetty rocks and rough sea bottoms where the current is strong and not a good place for inexperienced boaters or fishermen who have not mastered the delicate touch required to hook and hold the powerful fish.
Their impressive teeth are for crushing shellfish which is their main food source and probably accounts for their flakey white meat and a taste that is superior to fish that command top prices in fish markets. They aren't caught for wall trophies and they don't get featured in expensive restaurants or cooking shows, but for those in the know, they are well worth the challenge it takes to catch them.
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| Working the Fulton Cut Jetty |
