Freshwater drum or sheepshead as we call them in Wi. Tons of them in lake Poygan and lake Winnebago.
Not even close to the green sunfish. It is a pumpkinseed sunfish. It is in the same family as the green sunfish, the bluegill and the largemouth and smallmouth.
Meat is not bad but there are bones in every sq inch. Not bad pickled.
You know this is just a black sucker but if you tie into a red horse sucker you are into a fight. Fun to catch.
I use a #14 stinger treble hook all the time on the wolf river in Wi . I use a 2-3 inch piece of line and hook the minnow underneath the tail. Never had trouble with fish biting and catch a lot of them on the stinger hook.
I set the hook immediately. If I miss some I will add a stinger hook.
Make myself clear they are safe to handle if you handle them carefully they do have spines.
That is a burr fish. Common in salt water and safe to handle. Often used in salt water aquariums.
That’s a fresh water drum. In Wisconsin we call them sheepshead. They also make a croaking sound when caught so they may be related to the salt water croaker. Smaller ones are ok to eat.
I see a mangrove snapper a vermillion snapper and possibly a Black Sea bass.
That’s a nice smaller. Great fighting fish. Hope it was released to fight another day.
My guess is that it is a bad knot or to tight a drag setting. Drag has to be loose enough to give on the initial strike. I have caught 10 lb pike on 4 lb line but you have to be a bit patient with a looser drag.
I like fresh live shrimp the best but I have caught fish on fresh frozen shrimp. Piers and jetty’s are always good fishing especially for sheepshead.