Big Steve
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.

 
x2!!

I agree with the other folks' opinion on the sheephead being fun to catch... but wow they can sure smell up the boat!
A couple of weeks ago we got into them in a big way while walleye fishing.  They hit the lures off of the boards like crazy and they were the biggest we had caught all season.... what a blast!!  Largest that day was 10lb or so and pulled like a freight train.
 Many probably give them the bad rep because they can be very hard on equipment and if you are fishing just to fill the cooler they can make your day a lot longer.   We actually have been having more time lost this year due to white bass than sheephead... but they all keep the day interesting!

That's exactly why they get a bad rap fisherlady2. People drive 2 hours to Erie to fill the cooler with Perch, Walleye and Steel. In fact some anglers will kill sheephead when caught.  I don't agree with that practice. I find a day on Erie a lot of fun when you get a few big sheep in the mix.
 
The Ohio River has a huge population of Drum.  One evening they were busting the surface in the middle of the river, in a very large school, about a half mile down from the dam at neville island.  To reach the fish with a cast from shore was quite the challange, I tied a medium sized sinker above my lure and chucked it out as far as I could cast. Bait of choice was thundersticks, virtually every cast that landed atop the school it was fish on! ...what a night!

Unfortunately BlueLagoon, there are quite a number of Erie fisherman that kill Sheephead just to kill them because they aren't Walleye or other desirable species. Many of the guys on charters talk about it when then get back to the docks, when in the restaurants or when in the campgrounds, bragging about the numbers of Sheephead killed. Fisherlady mentioned "they can sure smell up the boat". While very true, I don't think I've ever smelled anything stinking up a boat as much as the Salmon did when we used to go to the Genesee River in New York and had our limit of 6 [3 for each person]. We would take the boat through a car wash twice, scrub it with brushes and soap and although it was better, it still would gag a maggot.

I don't know about you guys, but I don't think sheephead(either from Erie or the rivers) smell any worse than say walleye or steelhead. But then again, I never actually tried smelling a fish before lol
 
For the people who go out "to fill the cooler" I kinda see why they may not like drum, but that gives them no excuse to treat them any different than perch or 'eyes. If you don't want to eat it, release it to fight another day. For the people who fish to have fun and get away from the stresses of life, where bringing fish home is just a bonus if you do decide to keep some, drum are a blast.
 
Fisherlady2, interesting that you mentioned the white bass. On Erie a lot of people also consider them "trash fish" but on the inland lakes and rivers they're a prized sportfish. I don't get it, but there's a lot of things I don't get lol...

troutguy
I don't know about you guys, but I don't think sheephead(either from Erie or the rivers) smell any worse than say walleye or steelhead. But then again, I never actually tried smelling a fish before lol
 
For the people who go out "to fill the cooler" I kinda see why they may not like drum, but that gives them no excuse to treat them any different than perch or 'eyes. If you don't want to eat it, release it to fight another day. For the people who fish to have fun and get away from the stresses of life, where bringing fish home is just a bonus if you do decide to keep some, drum are a blast.
 
Fisherlady2, interesting that you mentioned the white bass. On Erie a lot of people also consider them "trash fish" but on the inland lakes and rivers they're a prized sportfish. I don't get it, but there's a lot of things I don't get lol...

White bass are a blast to catch, especially when perching.  Largest we have caught on the lake was probably 14 or 15 inches and really puts up a fight. We have kept some for the table, not as good as yellow perch but still pretty good if you bleed them and cut out the lateral line.  You have to respect any fish willing to go after lures 3/4 of it's own size! LOL

My son and I catch drum in the Ohio on crankbaits and swimbaits all the time.