Fishing time in Sheapshead Bay, Brooklyn

     Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City. The name also applies to the neighborhood north of the bay, not just the bay itself.  The bay was originally connected to Gravesend Bay to the west by Coney Island Creek, which was actually a saltwater inlet that separated Coney Island from the land to the north.   Starting in the 1870s there was talk of dredging the creek and creating a 200-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep canal.  The plan was never implemented. 

Sheepshead Bay is one of the most sturdy inlets on the East Coast. Manhattan Beach is directly to the south of Sheepshead Bay,  with Brighton Beach in the middle and Coney Island to the west. You can fish in the deep blue off shore waters in less than thirty minutes. Everything in this area is closely connected to fishing – even the name. 

Sheepshead fish are a common North American marine species that span from Cape Cod through to Florida. Fish can grow up to around 1.5  feet    in length and weigh up to 18 pounds and  eat clams, oysters, crabs, and other crustaceans.  The sheepshead fish has human-like teeth, including incisors in front and multiple rows of molars. It's also called a convict fish because of  vertical bars running down the  silvery body.  Sheepsheadbites blog  published a article about the sheapshead fish this year.

Due to Sheepshead Bays convenient and quick access to the open ocean, it started attracting boat building and fishermen during the late 1800s.

In 1931, the city took control of the bay and force to move all the building to the northern side of the street.  The city designed the piers at an angle, which would prevent trucks from entering them. The piers are still used today as a launching-point for daily deep-sea party-boat tours.

The Sheepshead Bay fishing fleet has about fifty boats, that are moored to the nine concrete piers along Emmons Avenue. Some of these boats take as many as two hundred passengers on fishing trips, other are small.   There  is a choice of half day or full day fishing. The most popular fish caught in Sheepshead Bay  are Striped Bass, Porgies, Porgys, Blackfish, Sea Bass, Stripers, Fluke, Bluefish.

 Parking is one of the biggest problems  on Emmons avenue,  but there is a Bay #2 Municipal Parking Field  close by, between Voorhies Avenue and Shore Parkway Service Road, near Sheepshead Bay B,Q train station with  77 spaces, that works Monday to Saturday, 6 am to 10 pm.  There is Cherry Hill Gourmet Market   with   a large selection of prepared cooked food and salads on the corner of Ocean Ave/Emmons Avenue that works 24/7.

There is Applebee, Clam Bar ,Greek restaurant and  Chinese buffet   on Emmons Avenue, just across the street from piers.  

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