Anyone bought fish meal this year? Just wondering some of the prices.
50 dollars for 50# bag at Simpson’s hardware in Sumter
Go Gamecocks
$50 for 50 lbs in Conway
There seems to be that same shortage of fish used to make meal from. You know, the shortage that caused the price to jump from $20.00 per 50# bag to now $50.00 for 50#. Last bag I bought was one of those 60% fishmeal and 40% filler or something else. The price was $45.00 two years ago. I didn’t even get kissed.
Menhaden now have catch limits and there is one commercial enterprise in either Va. or NC that has run all the competitors out of the market. With a virtual monopoly they are raping the consumers.
186 Bone Flats Boat
140 Suzuki fourstroke
54$ for a 50lb bag at haddrells point. $7 for a 50lb bag of clay as well
Hunter P. Hames
11’ Tarpon 100
19’ Sea Fox 125 merc
bought it from oburg milling for $39 a week or 2 ago
~LiVe LiFe On ThE EdGe~
Rebel Ryder
180 GRADYWHITE
150 YAMI
Orangeburg milling is probably the best deal around. They use fish meal to make animal/pet feed. They are about 5 miles off I-26 on 301. As you are coming into town and turn left on John C. Calhoun pass the car dealerships , next Black River Marine. Take a left at the light before you cross the RR tracks. 559 Whaley St, Orangeburg, SC 29115 (803) 536-9280. With the price of fish meal you can stretch it out with laying pellets for chickens. It attracts shrimp and is much cheaper. I have even tried dry catfood (cheap WalMart stuff) as a means of stretching out the meal. You can get the kaolin clay in Aiken at Southeastern Clay for about $5-6 a bag. But calculate the fuel and time wasted pay the price. With the price per pound of shrimp. $50 a bag is a bargain or just deep drop.
Capt. Pete
Bushwacker
Bushwacker, I was talking with a friend of mine today and he was talking about adding dry dogfood to the meal. You mentioned dry catfood. Do you have to grind it up or just mix the pellets in with the meal?
18’ Hewes Bayfisher/115 4 Stroke Yamaha/6’Powerpole, etc
I believe I copied the following off of this site a year or 2 ago. Have not tried the suggestions yet but may have to this year when my reserve of meal runs out. Remember, these are not my ideas. I copied them for future use:
"Bought a 40lb bag of dry dog food for $15.00. Filled a small bucket with dog food and covered with water. Let it sit an hour or so and then added 1/4 cup menhaden oil and mixed it all into paste using electric drill and drywall paddle.
I then mixed it with clay and water as I would using fish meal and made bait balls. Rolled them in dry meal to coat outside of balls as I always do.
I used 1 can of dog food, 1 can of cat food, flour, cornmeal, and a little menhaden oil. Baited half of poles with that, the other half with shrimpers choice. coolered out, they both worked good.
If you use dried dog food, make sure to soak it well or it tends to float due to trapped air inside the chunks. I learned this the hard way, but it does work. Takes longer to let the food soak than just using meal and clay, but with the high cost of meal now, if I were still shrimping, I’d start using at least part dog food.
Years ago, my shrimping partner was doing some work in an old chicken feed mill. He was able to acquire several drums of pelletized chicken feed. We carried a couple of 5 gallon buckets with us one night and just poured the feed out in front of the poles, no bait-balls were used. We did just as well as we ever did in the past. Pelletized chicken feed uses “animal meal” as its protein source, we also acquired some of the raw meal and it worked just like fish meal. The pelletized feed is much easier to use and it sinks like lead. We always carried a 6’ section of 4" PVC pipe to use in case we needed to re-bait any poles after the tide came in, just aim the pipe down to the bottom and pour the feed in the top."
Scout 162 Sportfish
90 Yamaha
Molon Labe!
Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. - Anatole France (paraphrased)
47.00 @ 17a feed and seed off main street summerville
47.99 @ westbury hardware college park road
quote:
Originally posted by lineman1023Anyone bought fish meal this year? Just wondering some of the prices.
$7/lb. heads on at Wando Shrimp Co isn’t such a bad deal, and I fill my cooler to the top guaranteed. I wonder if I can do it cheaper catching my own?
It ain’t about what it costs, its about bragging about how few passes it took you. And time on the water. I never want to know what a pound of shrimp actually costs me.
You can’t put a price on fun…
Scout 162 Sportfish
90 Yamaha
Molon Labe!
Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. - Anatole France (paraphrased)
quote:
Originally posted by sluggoman $7/lb. heads on at Wando Shrimp Co isn't such a bad deal, and I fill my cooler to the top guaranteed. I wonder if I can do it cheaper catching my own?
yes, you can- especially if you live on the coast and run a 25hp skiff. a couple years ago, a successful season went like this:
$25 license
$0 bamboo poles
$5 reflective tape for poles
$10 batteries for headlamps and maglite
$110 bait
$75 gas
8 or 9 good trips yielded 2 possession limits plus as much again given away to families and friends = around 250lbs tails = barely over $1/lb*… which would be more like $2,250 given $9/lb market price.
*please note this does not take into account the price of ice cold adult libations. while technically a luxury item, it does cut into the margin a bit.
now, about the price of fun…
I have used dog food in the past. 5 gal. bucket half full of dog food and rain barrel water to cover. put the lid on the bucket and let sit a couple hours to get soaked all the way thru. Add a cup or two of menhaden oil and carotex to the right consistency to for patties. High protein dog chow from the feed store is just as good as fish meal if the shrimp are there. Never tried cat food…it seems to be cheaper than fish meal but more than dog chow. If you have reservations about it, take both dog chow mix and regular fish meal mix. fact is,if the shrimp are there, they will eat it.
~Hookem And Cookem~
The chicken laying pellets worked well too. Bowhunter was correct about the chicken meal in the dog food. Just need a source of protein and a little stink. It all attracks shrimp, sharks and Flippers(bait ball killers). A splash of menheden oil will juice it up. Just keep the mixture out of reach of yellow and black labs while soaking it.
Capt. Pete
Bushwacker
quote:
Originally posted by barbawangquote:
Originally posted by sluggoman $7/lb. heads on at Wando Shrimp Co isn't such a bad deal, and I fill my cooler to the top guaranteed. I wonder if I can do it cheaper catching my own?
yes, you can- especially if you live on the coast and run a 25hp skiff. a couple years ago, a successful season went like this:
$25 license
$0 bamboo poles
$5 reflective tape for poles
$10 batteries for headlamps and maglite
$110 bait
$75 gas8 or 9 good trips yielded 2 possession limits plus as much again given away to families and friends = around 250lbs tails = barely over $1/lb*… which would be more like $2,250 given $9/lb market price.
*please note this does not take into account the price of ice cold adult libations. while technically a luxury item, it does cut into the margin a bit.
now, about the price of fun…
grasshopper, you need to try the way of the Bait Binder! 
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org
just keep posting those beer specials and it’s all good!
oh yeah, forgot to add the price of old bay- thanks to fritz for the pro tip.