Shrimping On the Indian River

The shrimpers are at it again this evening.

I got home from work this evening and decided to check out the Lagoon to see what was shaking.

Depending on who you speak with, the shrimping is still somewhat mediocre or great.

One gentleman I spoke with said he limited out the night before with the 5 gallon bucket allowed by law. He was at it from 8:00 in the evening until 3:30 a.m. and said that he had dipped up about 30 shrimp that were over 7 inches long.

Not bad if you don't mind standing over a rail in chilly weather looking at the water all night.

Another fellow I spoke with was setting up his Honda generator under the bridge and his story was a bit different.

He said that on the previous night, Thursday, he only dipped enough medium shrimp to cover the bottom of his bucket. He never told me how long he stayed on the water shrimping, but I suspect not very long.

In any event, this evening the water was relatively calm and when I looked over the rail, I only saw a couple of shrimp scooting around and they were promptly dipped up by the guy next to me.

There were also several schools of finger mullet swimming around the lights. I believe if I would have stayed around for a while, the big trout and "bull" red fish that frequent the area would probably have shown up for a free meal. This activity usually happens much later in the evening.

I got to the bridge about about 7:35 p.m. and didn't stay long without having my jacket on. The cold weather is good for shrimping, not for me!

In general the folks I talked to this evening said that the shrimp "run" was not near as good as last year. We shall see.. The shrimp in this area usually run best well into late March or early April.

I took some pictures that are in movie format for you to check out.
Enjoy, and tight lines.