Hey guys, my names matt and im from columbia. A few friends and i just recently tried our hand at shrimp baiting. Since one of my friends lives on james island we stuck to that area for baiting around snake island. Or at least im pretty sure. Its right at the mouth of the ocean with large sandbars.
Ill update with exact locations. We chose the mouth of the creek looking out into the ocean. We bought the premade bait from haddrells and made patties per the instructions. 4-5 per pole in a 5-7 foot radius around the poles. We were baiting about 30 min before low tide and started casting about 30 minutes after the tide started coming back in.
We didnt catch so much as one shrimp. Being pretty sure it was the location that was the problem, we moved around and tried 2 more times that weekend. Ended up with about 2 quarts of shrimp and sore shoulders.
We had a guy passing by mention church creek as a potential location for better luck. Unfortunately we had run out of time for the weekend.
Ive read most if not all of the posts on this shrimping section. And have come to realize maybe bulls bay or a close by area may be better.
But being new to the game im worried ill try several locations this season and strike out all together.
So my question is, am i doing soemthing wrong? Or am i simply trying in the wrong spot lol. Most people i see on videos are casting in what seems like the middle of bays. We were using the mouths of creeks for our poles. Which may of been the. whole problem.
You could probably cast in 90% of the waters over bait and not catch squat. If you don’t see other boats near you shrimpin’… you are probably not in a good spot.
Since one of my friends lives on james island we stuck to that area for baiting around snake island. Or at least im pretty sure. Its right at the mouth of the ocean with large sandbars
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I’m curious as to exactly where this is??? the only inlets close to James Island are Lighthouse Creek and the Stono River…both have sandbars in their delta but I’ve never considered shrimping at either of them…
Since one of my friends lives on james island we stuck to that area for baiting around snake island. Or at least im pretty sure. Its right at the mouth of the ocean with large sandbars
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I’m curious as to exactly where this is??? the only inlets close to James Island are Lighthouse Creek and the Stono River…both have sandbars in their delta but I’ve never considered shrimping at either of them…
I am 99% sure he is talking about the Stono inlet. Go out Folly into the Stono and go right. At low tide, there is that huge sandbar on the right. There is a little creek up in there you can only get into at high. That is Snake island. That sandbar tapers off pretty decent into the Stono. I guess you could shrimp along there, I never tried.
The Kiawah side drops off too fast and deep to shrimp from. It’s 20ft deep 100’ from the shore.
I have found that you have to be on a mud flat. Look for an area that is 2-4 ft deep at low, and about the size of a football field. This could be out in the middle of a bay or from the grass line out say 50-60 ft with the depth not getting over that 4 ft max at low. Avoid drop offs or next to the channel.
Ok so I looked at your chart for that area and one area in paticular that sticks out to me is this (Travel North on the Stono River,and do you see the white shaded area indicating a channel,ok when the white shading ends look to your right and you will see what appears to be a mud flat). Now I am real good at knowing what the Hell I am talking about and no one understanding me so if this is all Greek to you then just do some sniper shrimping til you figure it out. But seriously I feel your pain and after studying the places that work and the ones that don’t I can plot them on the chart now pretty good. This is just on paper so good luck.
All in the same area that you are going to be casting over (which depends on how accurate you are with your net you may want to space a little a foot or 3 to account for that)…Same side of the pole and about 5 foot from the pole about the middle of where your net will be when you throw it at the pole.
“look low and away…But watch out for in your ear.”
Hey guys. Im headed to bb tonight. Low tide is around 12. Havent been out to the bay before. Any tips for a newbie thats shrimp baiting? General area or time?
Hey guys. Im headed to bb tonight. Low tide is around 12. Havent been out to the bay before. Any tips for a newbie thats shrimp baiting? General area or time?
Watch the depthfinder or you WILL get stuck
Hunter P. Hames
11’ Tarpon 100
19’ Sea Fox 125 merc
Headed back this friday. Hoping to do better. I was the guy with the bmw lol. What bait do you guys use? Just been using the premade stuff. Wondering if its worth a crap
Matt - I mix meal and clay. But the premix works the same far as I can tell (cost is difference for me). You’ll find guys on here use dry dogfood and a couple other interesting things. Some insist on using mud from the river instead of clay. I think you can search old threads for that topic.
When you shrimp the harbor, you need to go at night. Otherwise, hit the bay in the daytime. It’s muddy waters and shrimp are confused as to what time of day it is there. Water clarity has a lot to do with it.
On the bait question, I once competed with my buddy who brought his bait-binder with him we set up his baits on the odd numbered poles and my bait (50/50 meal to clay) on the even poles, and it was a tie. So you decide. If you aren’t concerned about the $$$ you spend, makes no difference.