They are plentiful in Lake Erie---relative to the red drum and black drum in saltwater which taste great. "Silver sliders" Pull hard and glide ---pull hard and glide---Everyone fishing for perch or walleye thought of them as rough fish but after the onslaught of zebra and quagga mussels in L.Erie the sheephead is the hero.
The gold tinted ones are eating the mussels. They take the same lures and bait as a walleye---love softshelled crayfish and emerald shiners. I've caught them up to 28" and had some of the huge ones fight til they are dead. If you turn them belly up they will just lie there until a gull lands on them. Some people eat them but more people dont.