Newbie here, transplanted Yankee. Ooops, maybe I shouldn’t divulge that. Going to give shrimping a try for 1st time. Should I, or do I need to either plug the bottom end of my poles, or insert some kind of spike to drive in to the bottom? Any advice is much appreciated.
They sell pointed plastic and metal tip for pic and fiberglass poles
get a can of great stuff foam and squirt a little in both ends…let dry then cut off any excess bulging out…they will float now as well…
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org
What kind of poles do you have?
If they are fiberglass you can talk to Titan on here, he has tips.
If they are homemade PVC, then heat them up and pinch in a vise until they are flat.
Let cool before removing from vise.
Thanks for the quick response folks. My poles are pvc, 10’ long 3/4" diameter. Not sure that I want to heat up the pvc until it’soft enough to pinch. That stuff produces some nasty fumes.
To begin with 10’ is awful short. If you push your poles 2’ in the bottom, starting with 2’ of water at low, assuming a 5-6’ tide, your poles will either be under or just barely sticking out of the water. I have seen using PVC with EMT (electrical conduit)pushed in the end and flattened making a hard tip pretty cheap. As a comparison, my fiberglass poles are 16’…hope this helps…everybody was a newbie once…
Fishing is a prefectible art…in which nevertheless, no man is perfect – Gifford Pinchot
Key West Sportsman 1720
Ice Blue Pathfinder 2200
“Kemosabe”
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You need to add 5’ of something rigid to the bottom of your poles
to give you more length. Also something rigid on bottom will keep
poles from bending over on a strong tide.
Yep, as others have said, 10’ is too short. Minimum depth you can shrimp is 2’ and at high tide you will lose sight of your poles. 15-16’ is what most of us use. My advice is to buy some fiberglass ones now and take the PVC back.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
quote:
Originally posted by tigerfinYep, as others have said, 10’ is too short. Minimum depth you can shrimp is 2’ and at high tide you will lose sight of your poles. 15-16’ is what most of us use. My advice is to buy some fiberglass ones now and take the PVC back.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
2X “My advice is to buy some fiberglass ones now and take the PVC back.”
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I use all EMT. I cut five 10ft joints in half to make 10 “tops”, join them to ten 10ft “bottoms” with EMT connectors, seal the joint with good electrical tape, and flatten the bottom end with a hammer. The only disadvantage is they are hard to see at night, so I put reflective tape on them and tape chemlight sticks to the 2 end poles. They are thin, so the current doesn’t bend them over. Yes, 15ft. is needed, especially in Beaufort where I shrimp. The tidal range can easily be 9ft. If you set up in 2ft at low tide, with 2 ft in the mud = 4ft of pole underwater and then add that 9ft of tide, you only have 2 ft of pole sticking out at high tide.
spec
1980 Skandia 21 w/ '93 JohnRude 150 gas drinker
Whos got the best deal on glass poles?
CarolinaCrazyMan.
Call Rick at Titan, he sells poles, right there in Charleston area.
See his add on home page
Thanks!
CarolinaCrazyMan.
Thanks to all who have responded with great advice. Made a newbie mistake by not asking “before” I purchased the 10’ poles. Have already attached my tags to 4 of them but will see if I can remove them and attach to the longer ones I’ll get. One suggestion was for me ( 6’ 7" with really long arms) to get in the water and hold my breath while holding the poles up so that they stick up above the water, even at high tide. Suggested by an unnamed spouse, but take one guess. Ha ha
I just bought some poles from Rick at Titan. They look great and were a good price.
I use electrical conduit on the bottom 1/2" x 10’ and I use 3/4" PVC x 5" for the tops. I use a heat gun to soften the PVC 6" slightly and slip/ cram the PVC over the conduit. I use a PVC cap glued on the top end and then I fill the open end of the conduit with the Good Stuff foam and smack it with a big hammer to make a chisel point. This seals the poles and the last a long time. My poles are 7 years old and I have about $35 in the whole set instead of $125 to $150. I use the reflective tape from trailer side marker stickers found at Tractor supply or autoparts stores to give them plenty of reflectivity for night use. They’ll sink but they are cheap to replace. They drive into the hard stuff pretty well and are not too hard to handle.
Capt. Pete
Bushwacker
I have 18’ fiberglass poles with an additional 18" of 1/2 inch solid aluminum rods on the bottom. Sharpened the rods and still catch hell sticking them in some spots, but I can shrimp in 14+’ of water! I sometimes have great luck in the daylight if you can get deep enough.
Seafox 246 w 300 Yamaha
Best advice is if you have never shrimped.Don’t start
Go buy some shrimp. No matter what price you pay they
Will still be cheaper than the cost trying to catch them.
Not to mention the hard work and hassle.
Good luck
Yeah, but that sunset on the water, the fellowship, and that jellyroll of shrimp in the net make it all worthwhile!
spec
1980 Skandia 21 w/ '93 JohnRude 150 gas drinker
If you figure the cost of your fishing equipment, you can buy fish a lot cheaper than you can catch them! I spend less shrimping than I do fishing and I love to shrimp. Its not work, its enjoyment.
War Eagle 115 yamaha 4 stroke