Sport Shrimping On The Indian River

Sport shrimping on the Indian River tonight was slow to say the least.

Coming home from my fishing excursion this afternoon, I noticed a ton of people congregating on the causeway bridge and new fishing pier preparing for an evening of sport shrimping. So, I decided to check out what was happening.

When I got to the fishing pier this evening at about 8:30 p.m., there was quite a crowd despite the fact that the shrimp weren't running.

The guys I talked to on the bridge were catching shrimp, but they weren't the historic numbers that the locals here are used to catching.

No one had even close to the 5 gallon bucket limit and most of the shrimpers I saw had only a few shrimp in their buckets.

I decided to walk over to the newly constructed fishing pier and see if anyone over there was doing any better.

I struck up a conversation with a gentleman from Tenn. who is wintering down here. He told me the water temperature was still too cold for the shrimp to be running in good numbers.

The water temp was in the 60s, and according to him, the water temperature should be a bit warmer before the shrimp head to the surface. I was always under the impression that the shrimp didn't run well until the water cooled down.

We talked about the many reasons why shrimp run or don't run and agreed that they run when they feel like it. It's hard to predict mother nature.

Anyway, he told me about some fishermen that recently caught some nice slot size sea trout just prior to the last cold front. One of them was a "gator" trout that was caught around the pilings of the new restaurant.

He also told me about the bull redfish that he saw a couple of weeks ago over the lights. He said he tried everything but they wouldn't bite.

I didn't mention to him that I already knew about the bull redfish. They come in to feed on the small trout and baitfish that are attracted to the lights and the shrimp. They can be caught but they're usually well over the slot limit.

Anyway, I halfheartedly cast a jig a few times without any luck and after taking a few pics of the inaction, decided to head for home.

Here are the picture results of the night's shrimping.

I hope the fishing is better tomorrow.


Tight Lines