Ok, everyone jump in and add your comments from your experiences!
ASK QUESTIONS HERE TOO--
One of the things I see that alarms me is some of the locations folk choose. Shrimp are released off the flats, and they are heading North towards the inlet. The bottom of the river has contours and crevaces. The shrimp will aggregate and form "troops" and they follow the contours or those things that steer them [sandbars, shelves, crevaces, structure debris]
We are intercepting them on their run and you want to put yourself in the "vein" which is nothing more than a troop of shrimp packed together running as a group.
YOU DO NOT:
a) DO not be a parasitic shrimper & latch on to a group hoping they know what they are doing
b) Never get behind commercial wing-netters, get in front of them
Big Tip:
Hug channel markers, find the drop off using sonar, the channel edges go shallow to deep, shrimp the drop-off shelf where you just find deep water off the shelf by the marker.
The law says YOU CANNOT anchor in the channel, but unfortunately, we all do it. FWC has not been aggressive with ticket writing due to budget cuts. If you insist on doing the channel thing, the center of the channel at CM 5 is delicious. Get in front of commercial folks who tend to hog CM 5.
If you can find a "mouth" of a flat that t-bones into the ICW, that is a good spot. I found a little spot last season that I never ever saw anyone ever shrimp in. I was looking at Google Earth and my Maptech.com charts and there it was. So I decided to shrimp it, and OMG, it is one of my favorites now. I was getting the shrimp from the South and from the mouth. I found a little drop off where the 2 intersected...and BOOYAH.
Shrimp follow sandbars and contours...
SCOUTING: --> THIS step has BIG rewards
Folks have mounted gig lights and LED lights on their boats for scouting shrimp and flounder gigging--#1 thing to do if you can...
If Not, here is my Plan B.
If you can deploy a search light under the water [LED Greenie is what I use], and have a driver on board...go E to W for the width of the channel. The person holding the LED under the water calls out how thick the shrimp are and the driver correlates the shout-out to the sonar depth/structure. THAT is how I locate the vein, nothing blows more than being on the outer edge of vein and watching a boat 15 feet away dip 5 to your 1.
If you DO NOT scout, your guessing...and where you guessed how do you know if your in the vein or not? Sure even on the worst of guesses, you can get shrimp but scouting can make the difference between 2 gallons and a limit.
If your not dipping enough and your calling other members and they are doing well--move. I tend to get settled and do not want to mess with re-deployment especially when the current gets some rip to it...a ripping current is the worst time to re-set lights. They get blown back to the hull and you have to let out anchor line. So, I tend to find my spot and I stick it out. I take the time on the front end to make sure I am in the best part of the width of the channel, and that is where I stay.
Do NOT try to shrimp in big open spacious areas. What is steering the shrimp troops to you? Try to pick a a NARROW part of the channel and lessen where they can run. The more narrow the better.
Some folks will grab a hot spot map and mark on their GPS the narrow parts of the river, that bunches up the shrimp. You throw in a large sandbar and that really narrows things down...
The loving term and referral for the "white house" which is now painted mango peach has a boil. A boil is when your looking at the water, and all of a sudden a shrimp pops to the top and starts running. Yup, they boil straight up and pop to the surface. There is a cravace structure that boils them up right in front of that house on the sea wall about 500 yards South of the RB ramp. You will have to contend with dolphins feeding their all night as well as commercial folks who got their wing nets out. But if your not comfortable navigating at night around crab traps, un-lit boats, and channel markers, this is a good area to go.
Shrimping is NOT like fishing...and spots are plenty....I tend to do like to isolate myself from the chaos, there are so many delicious areas to dip it does not much matter to me where I go. I never know where I am going to end up when I set sail.
If you understand how shrimp navigate [in shelfs, follow contours & cravaces], and you pick a strategic spot in a narrowed part of the channel, or at a mouth that t-bones the ICW in a narrow area...you will do well. YOU do not have to be close to the other boaters. Many boaters rely on watching dipping action and then push in to the flotilla.
I won't allow this, and I let them know they are a danger to me and my vessel. Folks are good about moving. DO NOT let people [late comer's motor up and setup right in front of you]--another instance where I say something...I remind them the river is a little bigger than a 2x4. The reason some do this is because they only know that 1 area and your in their spot. So they panic because they do not know what to do when they cannot have their spot.
CM 65 [green flashing east side] in Edgeawter is MOODY. Go about 75 yards down in west of center of the channel and scout..you will locate the crevace/shelf. This is where the East to West scouting can OPEN up a big secret to you. I would say a good majority just deploy anchor and what they get is fine with them. If your going to put in the time and brave the elements than SCOUT and give yourself every benefit! You will learn 15 feet over can make a difference.
SETUP:
Horizontal - I use 1 anchors [one is a plow and one is a claw], 75 foot of line, big styrofoam ballie on my anchor line.
LIGHT DEPLOYMENT and LIGHT FIELDS
See next post.
Special thanks to our Director "AnglerManagement" [Kevin] for doing these fantastic drawings!
ASK QUESTIONS HERE TOO--
One of the things I see that alarms me is some of the locations folk choose. Shrimp are released off the flats, and they are heading North towards the inlet. The bottom of the river has contours and crevaces. The shrimp will aggregate and form "troops" and they follow the contours or those things that steer them [sandbars, shelves, crevaces, structure debris]
We are intercepting them on their run and you want to put yourself in the "vein" which is nothing more than a troop of shrimp packed together running as a group.
YOU DO NOT:
a) DO not be a parasitic shrimper & latch on to a group hoping they know what they are doing
b) Never get behind commercial wing-netters, get in front of them
Big Tip:
Hug channel markers, find the drop off using sonar, the channel edges go shallow to deep, shrimp the drop-off shelf where you just find deep water off the shelf by the marker.
The law says YOU CANNOT anchor in the channel, but unfortunately, we all do it. FWC has not been aggressive with ticket writing due to budget cuts. If you insist on doing the channel thing, the center of the channel at CM 5 is delicious. Get in front of commercial folks who tend to hog CM 5.
If you can find a "mouth" of a flat that t-bones into the ICW, that is a good spot. I found a little spot last season that I never ever saw anyone ever shrimp in. I was looking at Google Earth and my Maptech.com charts and there it was. So I decided to shrimp it, and OMG, it is one of my favorites now. I was getting the shrimp from the South and from the mouth. I found a little drop off where the 2 intersected...and BOOYAH.
Shrimp follow sandbars and contours...
SCOUTING: --> THIS step has BIG rewards
Folks have mounted gig lights and LED lights on their boats for scouting shrimp and flounder gigging--#1 thing to do if you can...
If Not, here is my Plan B.
If you can deploy a search light under the water [LED Greenie is what I use], and have a driver on board...go E to W for the width of the channel. The person holding the LED under the water calls out how thick the shrimp are and the driver correlates the shout-out to the sonar depth/structure. THAT is how I locate the vein, nothing blows more than being on the outer edge of vein and watching a boat 15 feet away dip 5 to your 1.
If you DO NOT scout, your guessing...and where you guessed how do you know if your in the vein or not? Sure even on the worst of guesses, you can get shrimp but scouting can make the difference between 2 gallons and a limit.
If your not dipping enough and your calling other members and they are doing well--move. I tend to get settled and do not want to mess with re-deployment especially when the current gets some rip to it...a ripping current is the worst time to re-set lights. They get blown back to the hull and you have to let out anchor line. So, I tend to find my spot and I stick it out. I take the time on the front end to make sure I am in the best part of the width of the channel, and that is where I stay.
Do NOT try to shrimp in big open spacious areas. What is steering the shrimp troops to you? Try to pick a a NARROW part of the channel and lessen where they can run. The more narrow the better.
Some folks will grab a hot spot map and mark on their GPS the narrow parts of the river, that bunches up the shrimp. You throw in a large sandbar and that really narrows things down...
The loving term and referral for the "white house" which is now painted mango peach has a boil. A boil is when your looking at the water, and all of a sudden a shrimp pops to the top and starts running. Yup, they boil straight up and pop to the surface. There is a cravace structure that boils them up right in front of that house on the sea wall about 500 yards South of the RB ramp. You will have to contend with dolphins feeding their all night as well as commercial folks who got their wing nets out. But if your not comfortable navigating at night around crab traps, un-lit boats, and channel markers, this is a good area to go.
Shrimping is NOT like fishing...and spots are plenty....I tend to do like to isolate myself from the chaos, there are so many delicious areas to dip it does not much matter to me where I go. I never know where I am going to end up when I set sail.
If you understand how shrimp navigate [in shelfs, follow contours & cravaces], and you pick a strategic spot in a narrowed part of the channel, or at a mouth that t-bones the ICW in a narrow area...you will do well. YOU do not have to be close to the other boaters. Many boaters rely on watching dipping action and then push in to the flotilla.
I won't allow this, and I let them know they are a danger to me and my vessel. Folks are good about moving. DO NOT let people [late comer's motor up and setup right in front of you]--another instance where I say something...I remind them the river is a little bigger than a 2x4. The reason some do this is because they only know that 1 area and your in their spot. So they panic because they do not know what to do when they cannot have their spot.
CM 65 [green flashing east side] in Edgeawter is MOODY. Go about 75 yards down in west of center of the channel and scout..you will locate the crevace/shelf. This is where the East to West scouting can OPEN up a big secret to you. I would say a good majority just deploy anchor and what they get is fine with them. If your going to put in the time and brave the elements than SCOUT and give yourself every benefit! You will learn 15 feet over can make a difference.
SETUP:
Horizontal - I use 1 anchors [one is a plow and one is a claw], 75 foot of line, big styrofoam ballie on my anchor line.
LIGHT DEPLOYMENT and LIGHT FIELDS
See next post.
Special thanks to our Director "AnglerManagement" [Kevin] for doing these fantastic drawings!
