Best Bait? Shrimp vs Crab Test - Underwater and Above Water Fishing! 

I’m not a sheepshead but I’m choosing crab over shrimp any day that ends with the letter y 😂🍻

I've found live shrimp with tail always outfishes a pinched tail except for maybe catfish or tiny fish needing a tiny hook Well saw the jig and your reply saying jig so yeah I guess pinched I usually fish with no weight or a reversed bullet sinker with a splitshot to limit how close to Hook. Reversed bullet adds a tiny pop

I hate when you go over huge fish that you know you’ve already disturbed and kind of blew it on. Doh! At least you get to see them scoot off. Lol

Awesome to see you are hooked on Sheepshead now! Great underwater footage too! Started watching your vids before you were in Florida! TripleTail content would be awesome too! Thanks

Saw another video where the guy was pulling mangrove crabs from the tree itself. Perhaps you could access that source. Enjoyable, instructive video.

You are the man as always been teaching me my whole fishing life❤

Thanks for that John...amazing.

I caught a puffer on a fiddler in VA one fall....sure surprised me.

took my first actual fishing trip down to florida in 25 years this week. kept your videos in mind being so out of my element. six species, two dozen fish total in two days fishing and change. mostly on live shrimp on the tiniest 1/8 oz jighead that i could find. had to size down on my leader, tie an alberto knot and tie direct to the jig. i never do that at home. i rigged them like a gulp, anything i could do to keep them from being picked apart by smalls. removing the tails would have helped. the bait shops sold out of shrimp. they seem to be very popular forage in the winter for the mangrove species. had a shot at one big snook but he didn't take my plugs. he jumped at baitfish or even a small predator. might have even been a tarpon, i really don't know. jumped 2x and was very big. i caught three small snook, a small jack (on a bucktail!!) about a dozen mangrove snapper or so, some ladyfish, pinfish, channel catfish. i asked the lady at one of the bait shops for fiddler crabs and she laughed at me. frozen sand fleas didn't work, didn't give them a ton of time. i guess i outfished the locals so i'll consider it a good trip. i didn't see any sheepshead but i know that they are there from time to time. my dad says he's seen football sized fish eating oysters off of the pilings, and nothing but a sheep is going to get through those thick shells. manatee county, stayed in the inlet because of the chop out front. these videos have helped me more than i can express.

It’s like the smaller sheephead’s can’t eat the bigger crabs but they hit shrimp quickly

Crazy Lures in Cape Coral have had fiddler crabs lately

Thank you John.

Footage is amazing

Awesome. Clearly the crabs are the ticket. Love your underwater vids.

John, your videos are so intelligently put together. Well done!

Awesome, John ! The underwater footage is absolutely invaluable. My experience is the same - shrimp catch small sheepshead and other fish mostly. That said, ironically, my 2 biggest sheepshead were caught on shrimp ! But fiddlers are the best for sure in terms of reliability. Thx !!

I love your content, I'm always learning something!

It would have been a fair comparison if you would have thrown the crab exactly where you threw the shrimp the first time you threw the crab about 6 ft further to a different piling and they usually hang on the piling looking for crustaceans

Get more mud crabs!!! And hi to Patrick Star⭐

I somehow caught a small pinfish on a fiddler crab yesterday while fishing for sheep. However, the crabs do tend to eliminate most of the snapper and pinfish like the underwater camera shows.

whats really amazing is how they pick the edges of the bait almost certainly knowing theres a hook there..interesting..i guess dropping a crab just tied onto a piece of mono with no hook mite give the answer if they know or dont know a hook is there

You rock! I've wanted to do this for ages. My idea was to drop big wads of each bait in cages next to each other and see which scent drew the most fish to it

Interesting footage I don't agree with the way u threaded the life shrimp on the on hook tho I usually go in the horn sideways not throught the bottom letting the shrimp be able to swim

Based on my engineering training, maybe it boils down to physics and statistics, the physics of eating a softer shrimp in terms of mouth size and shape iof the bait s easier for smaller fish than the crab, and statistically, there are more smaller sheepshead than bigger ones, thus meaning that the likelihood of a bigger one getting the shrimp before a smaller one less likely as well

"I can't catch keepers" LOL Welcome to my world LOL🤣

love the underwater stuff

Try sand flees. You can rake a 5 gallon bucket full for $0

Hey John, does anyone sell crabs down there? Or are they a go find your own thing…nice video hope the weather gets better I’m coming down in a month or so..

I’m a salt strong lifer. Really enjoyed Fishing the Edge !!!

Sounds like supply and demand for the sheepshead. They seen enough shrimp 🦐 they only want the limited crabs 🦀

Nice video as always. Love the comparison. Do you think you would get similar results for porgy fishing?

First state is in your area Love to see a collaboration.

Damn. You are right in my area. Hope to see ya out there in the yak

Thanks Jihn. Another great SWFL Vid I’m heading down for few weeks end mid April. Appreciate the Pine Island Bait shop tip for fiddlers. Can you recommend any kayak rental shop near Pine Island?

Hi John.. Great video.. What kind of hooks are you using for the shrimp..?? Is it a longer shank hook..??

Not that I've caught a lot, but it seems I catch sheepshead on every saltwater trip(AL and LA). All on shrimp, and they were never the target species. The last 2 guides were baffled that I was catching them way out in the marsh where the guides have never seen them.. Why? No clue!

Sand fleas seem to be the good inexpensive option for sheepshead bait. I’ve caught many a sheepshead on frozen sand fleas. Granted I’m up in VA so the fishery is a little different.

Mr. Skinner - could it be the diet of the sheeps during a certain time of year? Ex) red drum (red fish) will alternate between crab and mullet during certain times of the year. Is the same hold true for sheeps? Otherwise this is like the most effective way to target sheeps.

Nice footage John. Any chance you coming north to the meville show next month?

John, I was wondering about the presentation of the shrimp. In the video they are just laying on their backs on the ground. Not the most natural position for live shrimp. If you rigged them on a sweeper so they stayed upright would it make a difference?

New sub here .. love your channel and videos thanks for sharing the fun

I see you just use hooks no jigs

Did you try freelining the shrimp without a jig head?

What kind of camera are you using for the underwater footage and how are you rigging it?

For me when the sheeps are being finicky with shrimp i have to use a small one and rig it live instead of tail to head…

John, do you use barrel swivels or do braid to mono?

Great video. Not going to lie, was expecting a video of you with Rick in his boat. Got my blood moving yanking of Sheepshead!

the man, the legend

John, exceptional video as always. Which rod of your Skinners are you using, been in the market for a few of yours this upcoming season.

I think the fish are seeing that shiny hook, have you tried a red or dark colored hook ?

Easy dip the Shrimp in crab juice 🧃 for a few minutes.

Info on the skiff being used?

Can you use a piece of blue crab?

Great footage. Have you tried blue crab chunks or the legs?

Great stuff. Have you thought about trying Oysters? Oysters always work very very well for us

What about sand fleas? Some people swear by them. Crabs will outfish shrimp any day of the week for sheeps, but crabs are a pain to get in the winter.

Great vid! Have u tried sand fleas for sheeps? It works just as good as fidds.

Hey John what kind of hooks didn't see them in the description

Hi John, This is a snook question: when targeting them, do you tie your braid to your leader or use a small swivel? I fish almost exclusively for snook in the Indian River area and I always worry about spooking them with excessive hardware. Thanks.

On the boat……..! Nice

OK I don't care if you're targeting sheepies... Seeing big snook and not trying for is a no-no