Hard work last night but they were on. This was in Muddy Bay. Took 4 hours starting just before low tide. Mixed with a lot of small. It was good dark on the way back and dang near got taken out when some dude with no lights tried to center punch me. I kept watching a small glow coming down the channel and, not knowing what it was, moved to the bank and stopped. I was maybe 30 feet off the bank and the guy cut in front of me and went between me and the bank. I’ve got a Tee Top with running lights for a 65 foot boat on it. In the glow of those lights the guy looked completely panicked. He kicked up a bunch of mud running down that bank. Man, when its your time its not what you expect that gets you. You can’t prepare for a run-in like that.
Great job! I’ve never caught more than 1/2 one poling.
I went one poling for my first time last week. I don’t know why I hadn’t done it earlier. It’s so much easier and I was catching shrimp as fast as I could throw. I used an anchor and an anchor pin, but I think I really needed 2 anchors.
Any pointers that you do that helps out?
I’ve used 3 anchors for several years and they are a pain to keep over the bait as the tide changes and wind comes up. As the tide goes out the anchor ropes get longer and you drift off the bait a little. This year I ran across the homemade anchor pins at http://www.catfishedge.com/shallow-water-anchor/. The company in Atlanta selling the parts makes Ham gear and other quality stuff and you can get a complete outfit of 12 foot pins (2-8 foot and 2-4 foot extensions) with all parts needed for around $214. You have to Epoxy the ends on but it was easy putting them together. The handles broke free of the epoxy on mine first time I really cranked on some torque so I drilled and put in a small screw. They have been fine since. You can pin them in the mud at low tide with the 8 foot section but I find you really have to sink them in to hold the boat with a running tide and wind. I push the 12 footers into the mud about 4 feet. Then put a loop over the pole and idle away from the pole bending it over. With it bent I put the bow pin in and push it in deep and run a line to the bow. With some bend they hold better over the bait than anchors and you can put your shrimp license tags on the pins making them shrimp poles. Then put out a lot of small bait binder patties all around the boat. In close, out a ways and off the bow. Been working like a champ this year for me. Had right at another cooler last night but mostly mediums this time with more than average number of smalls.
One think I learned the hard way is never make a holder and put it on the boat to push a pin through. Seems that would hold better but as the boat rides up and down it catches the pin and pulls it free. Also, had one at the stern (through a holder I made out of aluminum tubing going through the rolled gunnel on my skiff) jam deep in the mud. Could not get it up and finally powered off breaking the pin. It broke right at the metal coupler so I sawed the raw edges off, drilled out the fiberglass in the coupler and reglued it and all
Oh, another thing I’ve noticed. Being quite helps. I don’t bang the weights on the deck and only have a red light in the bottom of the boat so I can see the shrimp and anything else that came up in the net. I’ve setup between several sets of poles guys were running on Bull’s Bay and I was pulling in shrimp about as heavy as they were. I have to wonder if running the poles with motor noise doesn’t have some effect. Maybe not but something to think about. I cast off port side first, then starboard bow. Then starboard stern and port bow. Kinda like having 4 poles setup.
pier yankee on old navy base 1993ish? we would bait off the pier in one spot and cast for 2 hours and cooler out. driving up to pier you would see cast nets draped over rail for whole length of pier mostly on the left side. now those were the good old days.
Tuesday night at crab bank was a great success, took 4 hours but had my first full cooler!
Mostly all large. Shrimped last Friday night same spot and got half cooler of nice large .
Must say never seen shrimp that large near harbor. Hope to hit it couple more times before season end.
I was on the shrimp this year really thick in the north end of BB and ran into the problem of not having someone to go with me so I tried the one pole method. First I put out 2 poles about 100yards apart basically test poles. It was pretty rough too. I baited both poles. I have a center console boat just to add in. Got my net out and got it almost ready to throw I set up to where the water would be pushing me back from the pole. I idled up slow put in neutral squandered to the bow and threw it wasn’t pretty at all but I had about 20 in the net. Did this on both poles Both poles performed about the same so I just pulled one and tied my bow rope around the other one. Once tied off I threw bait all around my boat waited a few and began to throw. I was zeroing on my cast but I know shrimp were there as I had just caught some and I could see them jumping and swimming around the boat. So I was wondering if with the boat not moving when I throw the net not having the boat to drift back and tighten my rope on the net if somehow they were getting out. It seemed like having to pull the net pretty much straight up and into the boat that it didn’t catch worth a crap. Has anyone else ever encountered this or have any advice for me thanks in advance I love shrimping and want to find a way that I can do it by myself that’s safe and not way to much work.
16ft High Tide
90 Yamaha
Thank you for the info kubejack!
I put a shrimp pole out the front and back so I could tell if I moved any. The only problem I ran into was a little drifting side to side as I’d bring in the net, but it wasn’t aweful. I may stick with the setup I have for now, but I want to try one poling more. It was really nice and quiet that night I was out there. I heard everyone else cussing the net thrower/boat driver, but I was doing just fine hahaha. Before the shrimp got there I just laid back and relaxed looking at stars.
Brimslayer - They say pulling the net straight up isn’t the best way to bring it in, but when you’re one poling, that’s what you kind of have to do. Try not to close the net in in one fluid motion. Try letting it hit bottom (and you feel them in there) pull the rope just tight as it is still open on the bottom and kind of pop it gently as you pull the net closed. That hopefully scares the shrimp to the top of the net and you get most of them.
Thanks and I will give it a try
16ft High Tide
90 Yamaha