Today was our first time out this season. Put in at Buck Hall, drove up the ICW and turned right into the channel just before Red Buoy 48, and entered the bay. I have years of tracks on my chart plotter and followed the channel to White Banks. It used to be an island but we were surprised to see it had almost disappeared. It appears that weather and tides have shifted several shoals.
Just before the island, we take a left and head to the far north bank. There were about six other boats along the channel and the flat to the north. We idled towards the bank in about 5’ of water and watched the fish finder for colored candles on the bottom, indicating shrimp. We marked lots of candles (although they were short). The water was a nice light brown, wind was inshore at 8-10 mph in line with the tide. We drifted in with the breeze until we were about 2.5’ deep and set the anchor. The wife and I enjoy the quiet and scenery so we plant one pole and shut off the engine. We saw shrimp skittering before we threw bait (burger-sized bait binder) around the boat as the tide started to come in at 0930. We caught shrimp from the first cast to the last throw. Some nets were 1 or 2 but most had10+ once we hit the bait balls. My wife had several nets over 30 and I had one with 46. The size was not impressive but mostly large with mediums mixed in. We filled our 24-quart cooler in an hour and a half. Not much by-catch and no debris. Plenty of oystercatchers and skimmers to watch. We saw flipper on other’s poles but they left us alone.
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Thanks for the pic and report!
It’s been my experience that those “red legs” are an indicator that the Shrimp are on the move, not stationary to a specific area.
Looks like you found them on the move?
Welcome back to the site!!
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24 qt heads off? or 24 heads on like you said.
24 quarts with heads, about 15 pounds. Spoke with others who didn’t do much but I think they were too deep.
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I was in Bulls Bay also. We got a full cooler, but had to work for it. The shrimp size was mixed. It was a beautiful day, but the wind picked up and it was a little sporty throwing the net.
Good luck everyone and please keep the reports coming.
Excellent report
Thank you