While fishing near pylons for sheepshead, this kayak angler tried out an unconventional bait you can find at your local grocery store.
Southern Salt Bait Company headed out with the idea that a black-eyed pea somewhat mimics a barnacle, which appeals to the sheepshead, an omnivorous fish that eats small vertebrates, invertebrates and some plants. The sheepshead is also popular for its taste.
Catching sheepshead with black-eyed peas
While the black-eyed pea might look barnacle-esque, Southern Salt Bait Company hypothesized that since the peas don’t smell like barnacle, they might not be as effective.
“Now it’s not going to have the smell of a barnacle,” explained Southern Salt Bait Company. “But I imagine you could take these [black-eyed peas] and put them in clam juice or something like that and give them a little bit of scent.”
It wasn’t long before Southern Salt Bait Company had a fish on the line.
“That’s gonna be the big one,” said Southern Salt Bait Company. “Yeah that’s a sheepshead… biggest one of the day and it came on the dog gone black-eyed peas.”
Unconventional bait makes for an exciting catch
While traditional baits have their place, unconventional baits often can make for an exciting catch. Whether you’re fishing with a can of black-eyed peas you grabbed at the grocery store, or hooking into bass on a scorpion lure, playing around with what your fish of choice is hungry can make fishing fun and challenging.
Bass have been known to even accidentally attempt to swallow smaller bass, and YouTuber Matt Nelson, well-known for catching big fish with wacky lures, demonstrated that Muskie will go for a snake lure. In a resourceful and festive mood, one angler even tested out Thanksgiving turkey to catch striped bass.
Kayak Angler uses black-eyed peas to catch fish. Feature Image: Southern Salt Bait Company | YouTube
