Wolfe lands whopper sheepshead to win Shootout

Out of 85 anglers entered, Destin’s Zach Wolfe landed a 9.29-pound sheepshead Saturday afternoon to win the 3rd annual Sheepshead Shootout at The Ships Chandler in Destin.

“It pulled good … fought real hard and made a couple of runs,” Wolfe said, before they got it in the net.

Wolfe, who is captain of the 26-foot Malia Ann, was fishing with Johnny Pearman and his girlfriend Kim.

The threesome had a good day on the water pulling in about 30 sheepshead.

“We were doubling up on them. We had a really good grade of fish,” he said.

Sheepshead must be 12 inches in length and anglers can keep up to 15 per person.

Wolfe said they were using light tackle, spinning reels with a 20-pound leader.

However, he wasn’t divulging any secrets as to the exact spot or the type of bait they used to catch the fish.

“I stayed in the bay and fished inshore,” Wolfe said.

As a matter of fact, they were already back on the Choctawhatchee Bay Monday morning and hooking up with sheepshead again.

Placing second overall in the Shootout was Cooper Lowery with an 8.62 pounder.

Peter Wright Jr. of The Ships Chandler said Lowery’s fish was leading until the last minute when Wolfe knocked him down to second place.

Nevertheless, Lowery did place first in the Junior Division for his catch as well as second overall.

Placing third overall was Johnny Pearman, also on the Malia Ann, with an 8.21-pounder.

Top Lady Angler was Gabriel Mercado with a 6.55-pounder.

“Considering the weather, we had a great turnout for the tournament,” Wright said.

The weather Saturday morning was in the low 50s with a fierce wind.

Out of the 85 anglers fishing the event, 25 fish were weighed with the average weight about 5.5 pounds.