The sheepies made the news, so they must be worth catching........
 
http://www.post-gazette.c...-easy-to-catch-695375/
 
Very underrated fish.  They are a blast to catch, they pull hard, and often bite when nothing else will.  What's not to like? Don't know why they get such a bad rep, especially on Erie.
 

I agree, they fight real hard, I love hooking a big one while perch fishing.  I wish I knew of a place I could target them on my fly rod!

Same here! The very first one I ever caught was actually caught fly fishing on the Rocky River in Ohio, but other than that I'm not really sure of any good places to target them on the fly.  I've gotten them below a lock and dam on the Ohio River so that might be my best option, but it's more spinfishing friendly.  Also got one before down low on a trib to the Ohio but I'm not really sure how the population is there. I guess I could always just use a sinking line and a lot of split shot and fly fish Erie!

Rock piles off PI

Fast action fish in the Beaver and Ohio sytem. Easy to catch, night crawler, sinker & a hook. Doesn't get much easier than that ! And they are fun when nothing else is bitting.

I love coming across a school of them, especially when I'm fly-fishing, because it's every bit as fun as hitting a school of White Bass.
 
I just don't eat them since that one time I tried' YUCK!! Since then I've read recipes for them that involve pickling the flesh, and I haven't tried that yet, but 'til then they are strictly catch and release!

I've herd guys say they boil them in salt water and then do another flavor and it kinda is lobstery but idk...  Not really something I'd want to try...

freshwaterdrumR

I agree, they fight real hard, I love hooking a big one while perch fishing.  I wish I knew of a place I could target them on my fly rod!

Lock 3 is very fly fishing friendly, and has their fair share of them at times.  I would guess they have some sort of seasonal pattern.  I caught one around 30", guessing 15lbs, a while back.  It was enormous.  Caught on a live gizzard shad.  It didn't fight all that hard for it's size, but it wasn't a pushover by any means. 

[Edited Troutguy's quote]
 Don't know why they get such a bad rep, especially on Erie.


Troutguy, surely you know. They are essentially bottom feeders and are considered to be a trash fish, hence the reason for getting a bad rep as you wrote. "Essentially" bottom feeders, but that doesn't mean entirely as they will target small fish, crayfish and other things to eat, just like our common carp. I didn't write my belief is that they are a trash fish and in fact agree with what everyone else on this post has written. They are plentiful, pull hard and are not particularly difficult to catch. Supposedly, they taste decent [but not like walleye] when taken from clean waterways and just like carp, remember to cut out the lateral line. I don't know the best manner to cook them and have not cooked either, but would give it a shot if someone told me how to prepare them. I'd be open to trying them. Wouldn't it be great if they were palatable? Once again as nearly everyone else has written in one manner or another, "What's not to like"? They possess many attributes that should make them desirable for anglers. To finish the answering of you questioning Troutguy as to why they get a bad rep... very simple... prejudice. That's unfortunate as some anglers will miss out on a potentially great day on the water.   

They are one of very few fish capable of keeping the zebra mussel population in check.   Something about their teeth.
 
The ones from Erie smell 10x worse than those from the three rivers.  Erie sheephead smell takes lava, toothpaste and lemon to shake the smell off your hands.