Shrimping 2019

[Riplukelee]

I don’t think it will be busy on Ossabaw

 

[Blackston]

They Will “lay up “ at the mouth of Bradley. Just like st Andrews.

 

[GaG8tor]

I live in Shellman Bluff and usually fish Sapelo Sound and surrounding areas. I was thinking that the outside of Blackbeard Island and St. Catherines would be a good area.

Fuelman,
I just moved to Shellman Bluff. Restricted to kayak fishing at the moment but if ya ever need a hand with the seine let me know. Haven’t done it since I was a kid back in the 70’s.

 

[WalkinDead]

This is the average size you can expect to catch at the moment. They should be here for the next few weeks.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

This is the average size you can expect to catch at the moment. They should be here for the next few weeks.

Where are ya finding them I've yet to find any stacked up in st catherines

 

[WalkinDead]

We were at St. Andrews Thursday night. Wrong tide and phase of the moon for numbers, but the size was excellent overall and we caught about 30 crabs along with the shrimp. May go with some friends over to Cumberland tonight to get away from the crowd at St. Andrews and see how it goes over there; gonna depend on the weather.

 

[breathe in]

any tips for seining with one person?

 

[WalkinDead]

I don't think I have ever seen it done. Guess you could drive a pipe in the ground, fit one of your end poles on it and swing a circle with the other end. Wouldn't cover much ground, but if the shrimp are in thick, it might get you some. Let me know how that works out for you!

 

[b1gger]

We used to go regularly to St. Andrew. It has been several years but the last few times we went there, we had a problem with the dolphins going after the catch and tearing holes in the net. Is that still a problem or anybody else have that experience?

 

[RedHills]

Shrimped on the flats of Sarasota Bay my entire life..never used a seine net. Walked the grass flats in less than knee deep water around the passes and shined em with a headlight and dipped them. Best time right up to dead low tide. Other way was to anchor in the pass and dip em as they floated on grass headn to the gulf. (boring)
Always usually got a 5 gal bucket full..FL limit.

 

[Blackston]

This ain’t the Gulf

 

[RedHills]

This ain’t the Gulf

I don't think a shrimp cares...there's estuaries that lead to "deeper" water where they go to spawn.

 

[Scallen2112]

And that headlight will get you a good 2" of visibility here while the shrimp are down 4' on the bottom.

 

[RedHills]

Carry on with your nets. Sorry to interupt.

 

[Blackston]

Be easy as catchin butterflies ?

 

[mdgreco191]

Shrimped on the flats of Sarasota Bay my entire life..never used a seine net. Walked the grass flats in less than knee deep water around the passes and shined em with a headlight and dipped them. Best time right up to dead low tide. Other way was to anchor in the pass and dip em as they floated on grass headn to the gulf. (boring)
Always usually got a 5 gal bucket full..FL limit.

I have done both. Dip net in the gulf and seine net in the Atlantic. Dip netting is a lot of fun especially for kids. We do that down on the flats around Ft Desoto. In my experience seining is where the numbers are at though. My kids still like to see what comes in with the seine (squid, crabs, flounder, etc...). On a good night you can fill a cooler with good size shrimp fairly quick.

 

[WalkinDead]

To answer the dolphin question above; they are only a problem at St. Andrews and if you're catching large mullet in numbers. They don't care about the finger mullet or the shrimp. They tend to be a problem later in the season when the bigger mullet show up in numbers. Should they hit your net, you can quickly patch the hole using 6" zip ties and go back to shrimping. You can have the net repaired properly at a later time. If the mullet are in in large numbers, there may be four or more dolphins following your net. When it gets that bad I pack it up and go elsewhere as they can literally render your net useless in short order.
The reason they are a problem only at St. Andrews is due to the "Dolphin Tour" boats hand feeding them, as well as some seiners. This is a $5000 fine if caught doing it, by the way. Do not try to harm them, they are wild animals and can literally kill you should they take offense at your trying to harm them.
If you should spot dolphins at the beach before you begin seining, it's best to keep your net out of the water until they move on. It may delay your seining a bit, but it will eliminate their being a problem.

 

[WalkinDead]

Braved the weather last night for a nice mess of shrimp.

 

[Blackston]

Braved the weather last night for a nice mess of shrimp.

That’s a fine bunch a Prawns !!!!!

 

[Rhodes]

Braved the weather last night for a nice mess of shrimp.

What was the count per lb heads on?