Cast Netting For Shrimp

Cast netting for shrimp is a common practice in the Jacksonville, Fl. area and many other areas of Northeast Florida.  

Apparently it is catching on in our area as well.  

About 7:30 pm I decided to drive down to the fishing piers under the A. Max Brewer Causeway bridge to see if anybody was braving the low 50 degree temperatures to net some shrimp.

There was a full moon out, a good breeze over the water, and a lot of people on the fishing piers.

I was surprised to see the sea wall and the first section of the lower fishing pier loaded with sport shrimpers cast netting for shrimp.

I took a bunch of pics and a couple of short videos before talking to the guys to see what they were catching. (Click on pic above.)

There were other sport shrimpers along the rails with lights in the water dip netting shrimp but they were not doing that great this evening.

I conversed with three gentlemen who were weekly visitors to the fishing piers and all three said that the winter shrimp run has started, but that so far tonight it was slow.   

Only a handful of shrimp were in their buckets; so far.

I started conversations with several cast netters and discovered that they had been netting anywhere from 2 to 5 pounds of shrimp for the past few nights.  

The guy below in the yellow rain slicker said he netted a black drum last night that was about 20 pounds but it broke through his net as he was trying to pull it up to the deck of the pier.  

He also said that he had been netting 2 to 3 pounds of shrimp per night, until this evening.  However, the night is yet young.

 I noticed that no fish were yet attracted to the shrimp lights, but I spent some time tossing a Tsunami paddletail bait around anyway, just in case a big trout was in the area.  After about a dozen half hearted casts, I packed in the rod and gave up fishing tonight.

Although the air temperature in the truck read 52 degrees, the wind on the fishing pier made it feel like 40 degrees or lower.

I walked past several other people who were staring into the water looking for a drifting shrimp but after getting nothing but negative vibes when I asked them about how many they were netting, I decided to head back to the warmth of the hacienda.

I was told that the shrimping can pick up at any hour during the night and a good number of the guys said they stay out well past midnight.

More power to them.  I was cold, chilled, and didn't want to get sick.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.