It seems that no one wants to the boat driver the credit he/she deserves! A good boat handler can be the key to catching a cooler of shrimp!
quote:
Originally posted by tigerfinPerpindicular set is a great way to lose shrimp poles. Places like bulls bay are few and far between. I like to set mine parallel with the current, but Perpindicular with the wind if at all possible. It makes life easier when driving the boat, and you don’t risk leaving a pole behind because it went underwater, or got left high and dry on top of a flat.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
Never lost a single pole. I’ve only done this since the 60’s
Whiskey’s strategy is; when they are there you catch em, when they are not you don’t.
I night shrimp on riverbanks in Beaufort that are not flat enough to set perpendicular. Our choice of “spot” is usually based on prior years’ success or reports from other shrimpers.
There are usually few shrimp around the poles until the sun gets on the treetops, then the shrimp come up on the banks to feed. We try to have the poles baited about 30 minutes before sunset, and then keep making a few “test throws”. Often we can hear the “snapping” through the boat hull when the shrimp come up on the bank. This can be anywhere from sunset to black dark.
They are sometimes on the poles thick for only the first 3 or 4 “runs”, then they thin out. We try to be ready and work hard when the shrimp arrive.
We set so we are working into the current, the wind is blowing the boat toward the pole, and the wind is at the caster’s back.
The boat driver lets the current stop the boat so that it is “parked” a comfortable cast away from the bait with the bait between the boat and the pole.
When the net thrower begins to tuck the net, the driver reverses the boat to keep from drifting into the pole, backs slightly on the downcurrent side of the pole to point the bow out into the river, then forward at idle speed to set up for the next pole as the caster dumps and reloads the net for the next cast.
Biker is right. It is an art form! When everything is working right, we can “cooler” in 4 passes which takes roughly an hour and a half. Of course, some nights if the shrimp are not thick, it takes many passes.
spec
1980 Skandia 21 w/ '93 JohnRude 150 gas drinker
You are so right spec about the shrimp being on the poles thick for a short period of time.When they’re thick,it’s time to roll.Great advice spec.
Thanks for the compliment sman.
Sometimes, we see boats anchored, drinking beer, and seemingly in no hurry when the shrimp are thick. I like to work hard and get the cooler full.
Then anchor out, pull heads, and solve world problems.
spec
1980 Skandia 21 w/ '93 JohnRude 150 gas drinker