Sport Shrimping Report

February marks the official start of the shrimping season in east central Florida and is the month when the cold fronts are supposed to officially come to an end.

Historically Brevard county shrimping is supposed to turn magical during February and March but so far, February shrimping in Brevard was pretty much a bust, South winds and all, and although March is picking up quite a bit, it is still not up to everyone's expectations.

All the regulars I spoke with said that shrimping is going to improve during March and so far, Oak Hill sport shrimpers have been enjoying their normal harvests of one quart to three gallons or more of shrimp per outing.

During February, Oak Hill shrimp were averaging 4 to 5 inches in length with most over 4.5 inches.

This is the normal size for shrimp around the Oak Hill area.

When a few sport shrimpers reported 5 gallon limits in Central Florida during November and December, "shrimp fever" was on the rampage.

But when the cold fronts forced the water temperatures to quickly drop, the shrimp quickly buried up in the bottom and the catches dwindled.

Many old timers believe that all the dead grass in the Indian River is the reason why the shrimp migrations in recent years have been dwindling.

However, when the shrimp reach abouut a 1/2" in size, they bury up in the bottom so the dead grass really should have no adverse affect on the migrations of giant Brevard shrimp that the Indian River is noted for.

During the earliest development stage of shrimp growth, the eggs cling to the sea grass - not to the shrimp.

The eggs are naturally sticky and will adhere to dead sea grass just as well as the live grasses.

The mullet that eat the sea grass and algae are probably the main threat to shrimp eggs.

Lately sport shrimpers have been reporting catches of Mantis Shrimp in Oak Hill.

You can eat mantis shrimp if you don't mind handling them but they can really mess up your fingers if you're not careful.

This Smithsonian video shows what a mantis shrimp can do to a crab or your fingers.

)
If you're sport shrimping in the Oak Hill area, instead of going to the more popular areas, try working the narrower parts of the ICW.

Unless you are using a floating wide mouth net in the current behind your boat, the wider parts of the river reduce opportunities for netting multiple shrimp in your field of vision with a hoop net.

When the run picks up later on this month, you can net shrimp almost anywhere you want with just as much success.

If you're shrimping in Haulover Canal, drop back from the bridge and set up along the rip lines where the slower water converges with faster moving water.

The faster moving water closer to the bridge is usually too turbulent for shrimping with a hoop net.

When Brevard and Volusia County winds blow in from the South and
West, it's a good time to break out the shrimp nets and head for the river.

But when there is a dead east or west wind blowing, the currents around Oak Hill
are affected and the shrimping slows down considerably.

Since Peacocks Pocket road was closed again this past weekend (probably because of the controlled burn in the refuge) I may be spending my lazy Sunday nights sport shrimping over the lights on the piers.

Till next time, Tight Lines