A Fish with People's Teeth

We were targeting sheepshead, a delicious spade-shaped fish in possession of a distinctly human smile, sporting people-like teeth evolved for feeding on crustaceans and bivalves. Using fiddler crabs as bait we were feeling for the faintest sensations in the line as they delicately picked apart our offerings. Slowly we were filling the icebox with fish.

In this 'Taste of WildFed' video clip, Tony Seichrist talks about Sheepshead while Daniel gets one on the line.

American Fishing Charters, a surgeon on the anchor, placed us over specific parts of the underwater structure with a precision I’d never seen.

We were visiting Tony Seichrist in Savannah, Georgia filming an episode for Season 2 of WildFed and sheepshead were on the menu. Being about the size of a dinner plate — and not much wider — I was growing accustomed to the way they felt on the line whenever I managed to get a hook-set into one of these elusive fish. So, it came as a surprise when my rod suddenly doubled over and line started peeling off my reel.

Fishing engages the subconscious mind in ways that other pursuits do not. It has something to do with unseen beings lurking beneath the surface. The unknown and unexpected. Speculation and superstition are the currency of the angler. Beneath the surface is the realm of the imagination and the vibrations of a fish's movements, conducted through the line, are all you have to form an impression of who or what you’re connected to.

Eventually, you see a flash of color as the fish nears the boat and then mystery gives way to pragmatism as the animal reaches sea level. You hoist it from the wet, fluid environment of its home into the un-buoyed gravity of the atmosphere. It feels its own weight for the very first time and you both see who was on the other end of that line.

This fish, a particularly luminous red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), went right back into the drink. Georgia has a slot limit of 14”-23” and this bull red was outside of that. While he didn’t end up on my plate he certainly awoke my imagination and appreciation.

After all, who knows what’s down there…