Shrimping In Florida Winter
Winter shrimping is most popular in Central Florida in the cities of New Smyrna, Edgewater, Oak Hill, OakHill and Titusville.
Shrimping in Florida is a night time event during the winter months in Central Florida requiring basically the same gear whether you shrimp from a boat or structure.
You will need:
- 12v Shrimping lights
- Batteries (tractor) to power these lights
- Dip net (standard is 8 foot, bridge handles are 2 piece and around 16 ft)
- 5 gallon bucket with ice packs or ice to keep the meat cooled
- Box/Frame net is optional (check with your County ordinances)
Many of us like to set our boat horizontal into the current, this allows us to dip off the side of our boat with friends. If you deploy a frame net, you are adding extra drag on your anchors. If you use danforth anchors you may have a hard time setting in the Edgewater, Florida.
My anchor choice are “plow” and “spade” anchors. My boat is 17′ skiff and I ensure my boat is set so that I do not dislodge and become a missile to the boat behind me. When boats drift with gear deployed anglers panic and reach for the engine key and start their boat. This causes an anchor prop foul (they forgot to bring their gear in) and renders them helpless forcing the next boat to take corrective action to get out of the path of a run away vessel.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Put styrofoam crap balls on your anchor lines near the cleat, that way if you toss them overboard you can retrieve them
- Put floating devices on your lights (at terminal ends), that way if you toss them overboard you can retrieve them
If a run away vessel threatens me, there is NO time for me to pull in 2 anchors and 4 shrimp lights. But, I do have enough time to throw my gear overboard so that I can motor out of harms way.
A dip net cannot be more than 30 inches in diameter, come in 8-18 foot handles depending if you get a boat or pier net. Look for a net with re-enforced neck so the hoop does not bend backwards under the pressure of a strong tide.
Frame or box net is a 3×5 or 4×4 foot net that is attached to your boat. The law requires you have a marking styrofoam ball so other vessels cans see you have a frame net deployed. The collapsible frame net (CFN) by net builder, Ed Shumaker, and you can purchase this net on-line (Click Here) or call (386)479-4175
It rolls up for easy transport and deployment. When you buy a collapsible frame net from Marker 69, you get the bridle ropes, lead weights, crab ball and everything you need to go from box to water. You have options, you can get the heavy duty model ($125) intended for heavy use or the basic model which is just a lighter weight mono material. ($100). We ship. Check out all the shrimping gear at Marker69.com
