Cover story
Catch 'em up!
by Matt Winter
Shrimp baiting season is in full swing in the Lowcountry. So grab your net, head out at sunset and fill your freezer.
It’s dark out on Charleston Harbor, and quiet. You can still barely hear muffled chatter and the occasional clang of a cast net hitting a metal johnboat hull out on the big flats near Crab Bank. But you can’t see much beyond the yellow glow radiating from a pan light perched on a pole above your head.
You stand at the bow, cast net ready, as your partner steers the boat slowly toward a white PVC pipe sticking out of the 6-foot deep water. Twenty minutes ago, you dropped two stinky patties of fish meal and clay about 4 feet in front of that pole, along with the nine others you stuck in a 100- yard-long line.
As the boat glides to about 10 feet from the pole, you throw the net, spinning its bottom edges out into a wide circle. It lands with a splash and sinks to the bottom, where, if all has gone according to plan, there are dozens of white shrimp munching on the bait balls.
You feel the tell-tale little vibrations move up the hand line, signaling that you’ve hit pay dirt. You slap the line once or twice on the water’s surface to scare whatever shrimp are under the net toward the middle, where they’re more likely to be caught.
You start pulling the net in, which folds up under itself, capturing whatever’s underneath. As you haul the net into the boat, the light bounces off the red eyes of your quarry — at least two dozen tasty white shrimp. … And they’re big. Bigger than the ones you’d buy at the store. And as fresh as you can get.
A half-hour later, you’re well on your way to “coolering out,” hitting your limit of 48 quarts of heads-on shrimp. It won’t take many trips like that to fill your freezer with a year’s worth of shrimp dinners for you and your family.
Shrimp baiting is a relatively new South Carolina tradition, but a tradition with an enthusiastic following. Every fall since the 1980s, thousands of anglers have headed out into the shallow bays and rivers to bait shrimp at night. At the peak of its popularity in the 1990s, the practice generated more than 50,000 licenses per year.
This year’s season, which began in mid-September and runs through mid-November, is off to a strong start. Reports indicate good catches in many of the popular spots in and around Charleston Harbor. And there’s still plenty of time to get out on the water and catch ‘em up.
To help you fill your freezer, Tideline spoke with two Low- country watermen with a wealth of shrimping knowledge.
Larry DeLancey supervises the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ crustacean monitoring program. DeLancey, who’s been working on the project since 1984, conducts regular trawls and other scientific studies to monitor the local populations of shrimp, blue crabs and horseshoe crabs. Gene Adams, an avid and successful recreational bait shrimper, recently shared a boat-load of tips during seminars at The Charleston Angler, where he works.
Basics of bait shrimping
Matt Winter/Tideline Magazine
KEEP ’EM STRAIGHT: It’s important to set shrimp-baiting
poles in a straight line. Doing so helps the boat driver move
efficiently up and down the spread.
Compared to some other forms of fishing, bait shrimping is relatively simple: Pick a spot in shallow water, set 10 poles in a straight line, bait each pole, then make runs up and down your spread, casting a net at each pole. If the shrimp are thick and you know what you’re doing, you can be done in an hour or less. One day in Bull’s Bay, Adams and a partner coolered out after casting at only nine poles.
But most shrimpers can count on it taking a little more time than that. Aside from picking the right spot, efficiency is the key.
SETTING AND BAITING POLES: The law allows a maximum of 10 poles, and the entire spread must be no longer than 100 yards. Take advantage of that entire allowable distance.
“Don’t set them real close,” Adams says. “If you do, you’ll be in trouble, especially on a windy night. You want them 10 yards apart, that way it gives you plenty of time to dump shrimp and get on the next pole.
“You want to throw that net, bring it in, empty it, get ready to go... you want that next pole right there.”
If possible, set your pole line parallel with the wind and current. This will make it easier to steer the boat and move pole to pole quickly. If the wind and current are at an angle to your spread, make sure to bait and work from the downwind side. Otherwise, your boat will drift into the poles.
Set the poles as straight up and down as you can, and make sure the whole row is a straight line.
Proper placement of the bait is a critical but often over- looked factor. Don’t throw the bait balls at each pole; chances are they’ll flutter away or break apart.
Just maneuver the boat slightly up-current from the pole. When you’re about 6 feet away, gently drop them overboard. Think about where the center of your cast net will be when you cast near the pole. That’s where you want the bait to be.
“I’ll have people come in and say, ‘Gene, I didn’t catch any shrimp last night,’” Adams says. “I’ll say ‘Man, we limited out. We made four runs and we were done.’
“You’ve got to bait your poles right.”
MAKING THE BAIT: Like many veteran and hard-core shrimpers, Adams buys his fish meal and clay separately and in bulk, usually in 50-pound bags. For every one bucket of clay, he’ll add ⅓ bucket of meal, give or take.
But you can also just buy pre-mixed “bait binder” from a local tackle shop. Just add water and you’re ready to go.
Whether you make your own mix or buy the bait binder, the trick is to add just enough water to achieve a moist and sticky consistency. “You don’t want them real sloppy,” Adams says.
Squeeze and pat handfuls of the mix into hamburger-like patties, about 8 inches in diameter. The patties should hold together well. If they’re too dry, they’ll break apart. Too wet and they won’t hold their shape.
Most importantly, make sure your bait “balls” are actually flat. Otherwise, they may roll away from the poles in the cur- rent or get pulled away by the cast net.
Make 20 to 30 bait balls; you’ll want a couple per pole.
Adams also recommends waiting until you’re at your spot before patting the mix. If you stack pre-made bait balls in your boat and then run across the harbor, chances are good that the wave action will have compressed it all into one giant patty by the time you arrive.
When and where to go
The fall baiting season coincides with the annual migration of white shrimp out of the upper reaches of coastal rivers. By October, many of these shrimp have reached adulthood, and are preparing to move offshore to spawn in the early spring.
Salinity plays a key factor in this migration. Periods of heavy rain can flush shrimp out toward the ocean early, while per- sistent droughts can hold them upstream further into the season. In October, shrimpers can expect good productivity in large, open areas closer to the ocean, including much of Charleston Harbor, the Intracoastal Waterway and Bull’s Bay to the north.
The vast majority of shrimp caught while baiting are white shrimp, with a few brown and pinks mixed in. Most shrimplanded are probably about four months old, and are usually evenly mixed males and females, according to DeLancey.
White shrimp are primarily nocturnal. During the day, they tend to hide in marsh grass and along the muddy bottom, seeking refuge from the wide range of predators that feed on them. At night, shrimp will move around shallow-water areas looking for food — basically any and all organic material that collects at the bottom.
Bait shrimpers take advantage of this night-time feeding behavior by concentrating swarms of hungry shrimp on tasty lumps of fish meal and clay. If you’ve picked the right spot, you should know it soon after the sun goes down.
“I’m not staying out there until midnight,” Adams says. “If I don’t have my limit of shrimp by 9 o’clock, I’m gone.”
In general, shrimpers look for relatively shallow areas of open water with a flat, muddy bottom. You want some cur- rent, but not a lot. The area should be free of structures like oyster beds, which will destroy a cast net.
Most shrimpers also look for a moving tide, which carries a steady stream of shrimp into their baited spread.
matt Winter/Tideline Magazine
NIGHTTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME: Most bait shrimpers try to
set up their poles while they still have a little daylight. Once
the sun goes down, they start casting.
Though veteran shrimpers like Adams have their own secret “honey holes,” some of the more well-known spots include:
CRAB BANK: This small spit of land at the mouth of Shem Creek is surrounded by large mud flats that hold hordes of shrimp. On a good weekend night, dozens of boats will be working poles on both the ocean side and at the western end, along the grass bank between Shem Creek and the Charleston Harbor Marina. This area seems to be Charleston’s mostpopular shrimping spot.
BULL’S BAY: This beautiful and remote spot has long been known as one of the best places to catch jumbo shrimp. The huge, shallow-water bay also carries the distinction of be- ing one of the few places where you can successfully bait for shrimp during daylight hours. DeLancey thinks this is due in part to the sheer size of the bay: Once shrimp move out into the open water, there are fewer places for them to hide.
Salinity also plays a factor. DeLancey suspects that Bull’s Bay might be a great spot this year in particular because some areas around Georgetown have had more rain. This influx of fresh water might have flushed good numbers of shrimp into the bay.
JAMES ISLAND: There are long stretches of prime mud flats running along the harbor side of James Island, near the James Island Yacht club. One stretch known as the Fort John- son flats has long been known as a great redfishing spot; it also holds good numbers of shrimp. Boaters should keep in mind, however, that a falling tide can leave very little water in these areas.
ASHLEY RIVER: Though areas closer to the sea receive most of the shrimping pressure each fall, there are plenty of shrimp to be caught further upstream. With years of scien- tific trawls under his belt, DeLancey feels confident advising shrimpers not to ignore these opportunities.
“If I had to tell someone where to go around here, I’d tell them to go to the lower Ashley River,” DeLancey says. “We do a lot of our studies up there, and there’s always shrimp there. They might not be big shrimp, but there’s always shrimp.
“That’s just a perfect scenario for white shrimp. It’s got a muddy bottom, salinity… just a very productive area.”
What you’ll need
Like everything boat-related, bait shrimping requires a cer- tain amount of equipment. And since it’s primarily a noctur- nal endeavor, there are unique requirements. But gearing up can be half the fun. And compared to many other varieties of fishing, it’s relatively cheap and easy to get what you need.
CAST NET: Cast nets are like fishing rods; you can go cheap, but you’ll probably regret it. Adams recommends a brand called West Coast, which costs about $60 for a 6-foot, half-inch mesh net. Unlike some cheaper brands, West Coast nets feature stronger, double- knotted mesh and plastic-cased weights that help protect a boat’s decking.
Though some shrimpers prefer larger nets, Adams uses a 6-footer because it’s lighter and easier to open up into a full circle. A shorter net is also easier to handle when “shaking out” shrimp into a basket or cooler, Adams says. He also rec- ommends making a few modifications to a shrimping cast net.
“When I buy a cast net, and I’m going shrimp baiting — shrimp baiting only — the first thing I do is go home and cut a few feet off the hand line,” Adams says.
Shrimpers don’t need long hand lines because they’re typi- cally working water that’s only a few feet deep, and they’re usually not trying to heave the net very far. A shorter handline helps a shrimper quickly retrieve the net and load up for the next throw.
“If you want to catch shrimp and catch them quick, you don’t want all this handline.”
Adams also trims any excess tag ends from the knots that hold the net together, particularly around the lead line at the bottom of the net. These little pieces of monofilament can snag on the meshing and tangle up a net.
To help break in a new net and make it pliable and easy to use, Adams will soak it in a bucket filled with water and a little fabric softener.
POLES: Shrimpers use everything from bamboo to PVC pipe and metal electrical conduit. Some even buy higher-tech fiberglass poles that can cost a few hundred dollars per set.
But most shrimpers just use long sections of PVC pipes, which are cheap and easy to work with. Just make sure you don’t cut them too short. The tides can add or subtract 6 feet of water, and water rising above the poles will ruin a night, and possibly lead to lost poles.
Remember, you must affix your DNR-issued stickers on each pole before heading out.
SHRIMP BASKET: The process works best when you dump freshly-caught shrimp into some kind of a container near the bow, then sort and rinse before putting them in the cooler.
You can buy plastic, vented baskets marketed for shrimping, or you can make one by drilling holes in over-sized buckets available at Wal-Mart or other such stores.
Adams goes the extra mile by cutting down a plastic 55-gal- lon drum to a 18- to 24-inch height. He then drills holes in the side and bottom and fashions rope handles.
Bigger containers such as this help shrimpers quickly shake out the net and keep their catch from scattering around the boat. You can also dip these baskets and their load of shrimp overboard to rinse off any mud or debris that came in with the net.
THE RIGHT COOLER: The legal per-trip limit for shrimp taken over bait is 48 quarts, and that’s purposefully designed to match the common size of a boat cooler. Double-check to make sure you’ve got the right size onboard, or risk a costly ticket from DNR officers.
GLOW STICKS: They’re cheap, they’re easy to use, and they definitely help you keep your bearings at night. It’s very easy to get turned around in the dark, especially when lights onboard ruin your night vision. Simply duct-tape a glow stick on the two end poles, and you’ll always be able to tell where you are as you move up and down the spread.
You’ll be surprised at how much time and frustration this simple step will save you. ...and glow sticks can also help keep other shrimpers from running over your poles.
BOAT LIGHTS: Shrimpers use all manner of light setups while shrimping. Many attach a simple pan light on the end of a PVC pipe or wooden pole that rides vertically in a rod holder. This elevated light source helps illuminate the poles out in front of the boat, giving the cast-netter a better target.
It also helps when shaking out the net and sorting shrimp.
However you set up your lights, make sure to bring a spare bulb. Typical 12-volt bulbs will fit snugly inside a foam koozie, where they can survive a bumpy boat ride.
And if you are using a pan light, remember to put a little terminal grease in the socket before your screw in the bulb.
If you don’t, the salty air will quickly rust the bulb and socket together.
SPOTLIGHT: Bait shrimpers seem to have a love-hate re- lationship with the spotlight. Though one of these powerful, hand-held lights can keep you safe while running at night, most shrimpers consider their inconsiderate use the mark of a rookie.
“I hate ‘em,” Adams says. “I hate for someone to be sitting in a boat shining a big old spotlight in my face.
“Don’t get me wrong, if you’re running down the river some- where and you’re not real familiar with it, take one with you and shoot the bank.
“But don’t shoot everybody who’s in the river. Believe me, they get upset.”
GLOVES: It’s always a good idea to have a good set of gloves when you’re on a boat, and bait shrimping is no different. A good set can help shield your hands from rope burn as you throw and retrieve the net a hundred times.
A cheap pair of disposable rubber gloves will also keep yourhands clean while forming bait balls.
CRAB TONGS: You’ll sometimes catch blue crabs in the net. A set of tongs helps you get them overboard quickly and resume casting for shrimp.
PROPER FOOTWEAR: It’s just not a good idea to go shrimping bare-footed or in flip-flops. There’s always a chance you could go overboard, and you’ll regret your lack of proper footwear if you happen to be over oysters when that happens.
An old pair of tennis shoes or boat shoes will also shield your feet from being speared by the rostrum, or horn, of a big shrimp dropping out of the net.
Shoes also give you better grip on a slippery boat and a little warmth in the later part of shrimp baiting season.
BILGE PUMP: A cast net pours water into the boat every time you haul it onboard. In the dark, with all the excitement of loading up a cooler with jumbo shrimp, it’s easy to ignore the water sloshing around.
Most larger boats are equipped with a bilge pump, but if you’re going shrimping in a smaller vessel like a johnboat, take the time to hook one up. A simple bilge pump is inexpensive, easy to attach to a 12-volt battery and will keep you high and dry throughout the night.
Get ready to eat
Take good care of the shrimp once they're in the boat. Rinse them off thoroughly and remove any shells, pieces of bait ball or other debris before putting them in the cooler. As they fill the cooler, keep them well iced.
Many shrimpers wait until the cooler is full before heading their shrimp; doing so ensures that they won’t go over the legal limit. Many head the shrimp on the water, which avoids a mess at home.
Shrimp keep best if frozen in water. Place meal-sized portions of shrimp in a heavy-duty freezer bag, add a little water and squeeze out any air. It’s also a good idea to place your bags of shrimp on a rimmed baking sheet before putting them in the freezer. This way, any leaks will be contained on the sheet.
Know the rules
The 60-day period set by SCDNR begins at noon on the last Friday on or before Sept. 15.
• Baiting license and pole marker tags are required. A li- cense is not required for residents assisting license holders.
• Daily catch limit of 48 quarts whole or 29 quarts headed per boat or per person if no boat is used.
• Shrimp caught over bait cannot be sold.
• No more than 10 poles can be used per license per day.
• Poles may not exceed 1 inch in diameter and must have a numbered tag attached which corresponds with the shrimp baiting license.
•Each pole must also be marked with reflective tape.
•No more than 10 poles can be used per boat.
•All poles of a licensed set must be within 100 linear yards of each other and sets of poles must be at least 25 yards apart.
• Poles may not be set within 50 yards of any dock, public landing or boat ramp.
• Unattended poles will be confiscated.
• Owners of private docks or persons with written permission may bait from those docks once properly licensed and with numbered tag displayed.
• Shrimp pots or traps are prohibited.
• Individuals who are: 1) owners or officers of a corporation which owns a vessel specified on a trawl license; 2) masters of a vessel specified on a trawl license application; 3) licensed to use a channel net; 4) licensed to use a cast net for a commercial purpose; or 5) licensed as a wholesale seafood dealer may not obtain a shrimp baiting license.
• Cast nets used for taking shrimp over bait must have a mini- mum mesh size of 1/2 inch square (1 inch stretch).
Contact Matt Winter at matt@tidelinemagazine.com or 843-937-5568
Saga of shrimp baiting
Shrimp baiting has a surprisingly long and checkered past, complete with nasty feuds between commercial and recreational shrimpers:
EARLY 1980s: Shrimp baiting gains a foothold in the Lowcountry after a group of Flo- ridians introduces the practice. Thousands partake, with huge catches. Turf wars develop, and some bait shrimpers sell catches.
1981: Spurred by complaints from commer- cial shrimpers, Georgia bans shrimp baiting. 1983: South Carolina outlaws the sale of shrimp caught over bait. Wildlife officials hold public meetings on shrimping issues.
1985: South Carolina enacts first shrimp catch limits for seine and cast nets: 50 quarts heads-on or 30 quarts heads-off. The S.C. Recreational Shrimpers Association is founded.
1986: Mount Pleasant seafood dealer calls meeting of officials and shrimpers to ad- dress baiting, illegal sales and intimidation of fishermen on the water. The state’s Marine Advisory Board recommends a ban on shrimp baiting.
1987: Political maneuvering over a possible ban on shrimp baiting intensifies.
1988: 52 are arrested in Beaufort County, charged with 151 counts related to unlawful sale of baited shrimp in 1987. S.C. legislators pass law requiring shrimp baiting permits, limiting the number of poles and establishing a season and penalties.
1990: Vandals slash the tires of shrimp baiters’ vehicles at Remley’s Point boat landing in Mount Pleasant. More tires are slashed the following weekend at other boat landings. Rumors blame commercial shrimpers.
1993: The state’s Marine Resources Division convenes a meeting of shrimpers, officials and law enforcement to address the issues.
1996: McClellanville charges boaters to use the Jeremy Creek public boat ramp. Town officials argue that boaters, many of them shrimp baiters, are overrunning their creekside village. DNR sues, and a judge orders the town to reopen the landing at no charge.
1997: New S.C. law limits shrimp possession to 12 dozen per boat from Dec. 16 through April 30. The law is intended to control a new practice called “deep-hole shrimping,” in which anglers used modified cast nets to catch large shrimp in the winter months.
1998: New state law targets those who knowingly purchase illegally harvested sea- food, including baited shrimp.
1999: DNR creates committee to evaluate changes to shrimp-baiting laws. Incidents of “black gill disease” in Lowcountry shrimp prompt an investigation by DNR biologists.
2000: The Legislature approves DNR’s massive rewrite of coastal fisheries laws, including a provision requiring half-inch mesh on cast nets. The regulation is de- signed to allow smaller shrimp to escape, and does not affect recreational shrimpers not casting over bait.
2001: Commercial and recreational shrimpers clash over a proposal to limit recreational shrimpers to only 10 days of shrimp bait-ing during the 60-day season, reduce the number of bait poles from 10 to five, and cut off all shrimp baiting after midnight. These measures are never enacted.
2002: Black gill disease continues to worry commercial and recreational shrimp fish- ermen, who report more affected shrimp and a drop-off in catches. A new state law requires those who sell shrimp to produce a bill of sale from a licensed commercial shrimper to verify the source of their catch. The half-inch net-mesh rule passed in 2000 takes effect.
The Post and Courier
Sources: The Post and Courier, S.C. Department of Natural Resources; graphic and text by Matt Winter, Tideline magazine
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