Saturday Night Shrimping On The Fishing Pier

This Saturday night shrimping on the fishing pier was a pleasant change from sitting in front of the boob tube and vegetating.

I planned on taking out my Maverick flats boat with my wife and hitting the Mosquito Lagoon but I would up working on fixing the indexing valve on my sprinkler system instead. What a job!

Anyway, since I didn't get a chance to go fishing Saturday, I decided to check out the new fishing pier in Titusville first hand.

The pier can't be seen from the new fixed span A. Max Brewer bridge and I couldn't tell what if anything was going on until I pulled around into the detour road.

I parked underneath the bridge and pulled out my Nikon camera and one of my fishing rods tipped with a DOA CAL jerkbait.

A few people were shrimping along the sea wall on the south side of the bridge, but most of the people were on the pier and in the "watering hole" having a good time.

The night was windless and the moon was full. There was barely a ripple on the Indian River. The night was absolutely beautiful.

I took several pictures of the shrimpers doing their thing and the fishermen trying for sea trout or redfish.

The shrimpers weren't doing much good, but there were shrimp being caught. Several were nice sized jumbos.

I think they would have done much better with a wind to move the current and bring the shrimp up from the bottom. But who am I?

Anyway, since I didn't feel like sitting around the house, I started casting away from the shrimp lights and bringing my lure into the lighted zone.

I had several hits from small sea trout and missed one really good hit from either a large sea trout, a drum or a redfish.

The best hit came from the rocks just at the base of the restaurant where I was told some large gator trout were caught a few weeks ago.

Anyway, I didn't catch anything to brag about or take pictures of, but here are the pics I did take of the evening.


I just love being on the water with other fishermen and swapping stories. Saturday night shrimping on the fishing pier beats the hell out of vegetating in front of a TV set.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Max Brewer Causeway Bridge Closure

The Max Brewer Causeway Bridge, at Parrish Park on SR 406 has been closed since Feb 21, 2010.

Initially I believed it was due to the swing bridge being stuck, however several people I have spoken with said that the closure was due to the ongoing bridge construction. No one seems to have any idea when or if the bridge will be reopened to vehicle traffic.

Several subscribers emailed me on this and all I can report to date is that it is still closed.

For now, anyone wanting to launch their boat at the Parrish Park ramps, will have to enter the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge from North US 1, then going onto Kennedy Parkway (Co Hwy 3), and then to Max Brewer Memorial Parkway.


When I visited the bridge late this afternoon, I spoke with a couple of shrimpers to get an updated report.

The general consensus is that the shrimping still 'sucks' compared to prior years.

The gentleman in the picture has been wintering in Titusville, from his home in Ohio and shrimping here since the 80's. He said the shrimping has been gradually going downhill.



The colder than average weather, along with the commotion from the new bridge construction, has caused the shrimp to run deeper than normal, making them harder to net.

I was surprised that they were still loading their generators onto the bridge, even though it was officially closed, but I guess that's what die hard shrimpers do.

In any event Bart, I believe he said his name was, said that the last good shrimp run this year was back in late January, and that he was still hoping for better shrimping when the water gets a bit warmer.

Although he seemed genuinely disgusted with the shrimping, it couldn't have been that bad if he bothered to unpack all his gear and lug it on to the bridge for the night.

I might get out with my wife and our wonder dog Elmo tomorrow to try some fishing and get some fishing reports on both the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Fishing.

Till then, Tight Lines and enjoy the pics!

Night Shrimping On The Indian River

Planned on getting out and making a few casts before dark, however I drove in from Savannah, Ga. and ran into some unexpected traffic and didn't get home early enough. After my last traffic stop by Volusia county, I try to keep it way under 95 mph! Just Kidding!!

Anyway my wife, Elmo and I drove down to the causeway bridge to see what was happening.

There were few fishermen on the water, and about a dozen or more shrimpers doing their thing from the bridge and a wooden fishing dock.

The old timers complained about the slow shrimping. Several told me that this time of the year should be when the shrimp begin to run in ernest, but the cold snap of the past week put the shrimp down. The general concences is that Feb. or March should be when they really turn on.

One thing is certain, the trout were there in droves and I suspect they were the main reason no one was loading up on the shrimp. The trout were eating everything in sight. The water column above the shrimp lights looked like a fish hatchery.


I took a couple of videos of the fish activity you all might find interesting. Turn down the audio unless you love the sound of generators.



The videos were taken about 7:45 . Later on in the evening, the big bull redfish come cruising in like miniature torpedos looking for a trout dinner, I suspect.

In any event, I hope to get out and bend a rod tomorrow. Till then.

Tight Lines.

Indian River Shrimping Is Right Around The Corner

With the water temperatures in the Titusville, Fl. area getting a bit cooler, some of the locals have already started the ritual of cleaning out their freezers, to make room for their upcoming shrimping catches.

Shrimping should start really getting better as the full moon approaches, and when the water temperatures hit the magic 67 degree figure.

I previously described what's necessary to get started shrimping from land; and when I ran across this little video that explains nicely how its done by boat; I decided to put it up for your viewing.

The lights that they use, are also widely used by bridge and dock shrimpers, and the green color, definitely makes everything much more visible topside.



I made a personal vow this year to get out and do a little more shrimping instead of tryig to snag the Bull Redfish and seatrout that also come into the green lights to gorge on the shrimp.

The last time I went shrimping was with my neighbor on his pontoon boat in Oak Hill on the ICW.

When the tide changed and the current started moving, we loaded up the 5 gallon buckets in very short order.

Hummm! Makes me hungry.

Till next time.

Tight Lines To All!

Night Time Trout Fishing

Well it was a beautiful day in central Florida today. The wind was gusting to 20 mph and both the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons were choppy.

I had intentions of taking out my Maverick and hitting the flats for some of those April gator sea trout everyone has been catching, but mowing the lawn, cutting down some dead trees and working around the house seemed like a better idea, according to my wife.

Not content to giving up a beautiful day without going fishing, I grabbed a spare rod I just respooled with 10 lb. Cajun Red Lightnin' line, put on a black and silver D.O.A. Terror Eye and scooted down to the bridge near dusk.

When I got to the causeway, it was sparsely populated with shrimpers and a few bridge fishermen.

The shrimping this past week was "so, so" according to Hank, one of the regulars. He said the shrimp were running sporadic and were "Oak Hill" sized. (Meaning mediums to small)

The week before, as I have already posted in this blog, they were "loading up on 9 to 12 inch shrimp" but this week the shrimping has not been consistent. Five gallon limits were were being scooped up, but "they weren't Titusville shrimp", as on gentleman told me.

Knowing that night time trout fishing is pretty much overlooked in this area, I decided to see if I could pick up a gator sow sea trout.

When it got dark I started pitching the D.O.A. outside the shrimp lights and caught and missed several small trout.



Moving out to deeper water just outside the shrimp lights, a good sub-gator sized trout grabbed the D.O.A. lure and tried her best to run under the bridge. After a couple of very nice runs, I finally landed the respectable 21 inch trout.

Fish for dinner tomorrow evening! I usually don't keep them but it's been a dry spell for nice sized keepers.

Last week end, my wife and I hit the preserve area of the northern Indian River and didn't do as well as we hoped.

I caught 13 or 14 small trout and missed a nice over sized redfish, and Karen missed one red and only caught several catfish. That is the main reason I almost exclusively use lures and not bait.

I took a few fish pics and am posting the collage here for your viewing.

Maybe the fishing will be better tomorrow. The weather should be great.

Tight lines to all!

First Annual Fishin For Spot Tournament

The weather conditions for Titusville's first annual Fishin For Spot redfish tournament this weekend were excellent, and Saturday in particular, was a perfect day to get out and have some fun on the Indian River.

My wife and I checked out the area on Friday evening. We noticed that the parking spaces at the boat ramp in Parrish Park were quickly getting filled up.

This could have been attributed to either the Spot redfish tournament or the sport shrimping that was going on.

Friday evening had a greater than usual amount of shrimpers out on the bridge dipping up the tasty crustaceans. I am on the mend from foot surgery, so I didn't walk around and ask the sport shrimpers about their catches. From what I could see, they seemed to be doing quite well.

On Saturday, we drove around Merrit Island Wildlife Preserve from Peacock Pocket to where it finally comes out on SR 402.

The drive was unusually crowded with fishermen staking out their favorite spots on the river hoping to catch a winning redfish. The beautiful weather conditions, and the tournament, definitely
brought out the fishermen.

Here is a short movie presentation covering the weekend's festivities.

There was also a large gathering of people around the Max Brewer Causeway; jet skiing, fishing, picnicking, parasailing, and just enjoying the day.

My wife and I missed the weigh in but called to find out who won what.

Camille Moore was kind enough to provide us the results for the First Annual Fishin For Spot tournament held this weekend, April 4th, 2009.

The results are listed below:

1st Place - Casey Uyttewaal - New Smyrna Bch, Fl - 14 spots

2nd Place - Steve Hastings - Edgewater, Fl - 9 spots

3rd Place - Mark Latoree - Edgewater, FL - 8 spots

4th Place - Alan Holt - Cocoa, FL - 6 spots

5th Place - Mike Miller - Cocoa, FL 5 spots

Sr. Division Winner -- Steve Hastings - Edgewater, FL 9 spots

No ladies or jr's brought any fish in.

It is my understanding that although the fishing conditions were excellent, and the turnout was substantial, very few fish were brought to the weigh in.

If I could have known that in advance, I would have registered myself. The winner won a new boat!

Tight lines to all!

Indian River Shrimping Report

Well the Indian River shrimpers were at it again this evening with mixed results.

It was a beautiful clear evening with a half moon that provided great visibility on the river.

My wife, my wonder dog Elmo, and I drove through the preserve area to check out the water level before going to where the shrimpers were doing their thing. The water is still very low on the Indian River, so we decided on taking a boat ride tomorrow to catch fish, if the weather holds.

When we got to the bridge, we saw about 30 people hanging over the railings trying to dip out their limits of shrimp.

I questioned several "regulars" about their success. The general theme was that the shrimp were not running like they were in previous years, however, the shrimp that were being caught were medium to jumbos in size. One gentleman I spoke with, as he was packing up to leave, said that the shrimpers in the boats were doing better than people on the bridge.

I did notice when we drove past the Marine Patrol station, that about twenty boat trailers were parked under the lights. Based on the number of boats out this evening, I can only assume the guy on the bridge knew what he was talking about.

Another shrimper said that the shrimping up north in Oak Hill ICW was a lot better than in Titusville, but that the shrimp were much smaller. He told me that he and his neighbor dipped four gallons last Friday during the tide change but they were small.

There were the usual schools of trout chasing shrimp and small bait fish over and around the shrimp lights.

Not being one to pass up an opportunity, I decided to catch a few.

I pulled out my fishing rod and caught several medium sized trout on a D.O.A. Terror Eye before I decided to call it a night. It was like being in a fish hatchery! Fish were everywhere.

Here are some pictures you might enjoy. I tried to get some shots of the trout swimming over the lights. Unfortunately only a couple were viewable. You can make out several good sized trout in one of the shots.

With any kind of luck I'll have a fishing report for tomorrow. Tight lines!

What Do You Need To Go Sport Shrimping?

Sport shrimping takes a lot of gumption during the winter months. If you don't believe me, try standing on a bridge half the night, looking over the railing with the wind blowing, and the temperature in the low 40's trying to dip a bunch of shrimp into a 5 gal. bucket.

Did you get the picture? Not quite.

The flip side of sport shrimping is that from October to late April, when the shrimp are supposed to be "really running", between the new and full moon phases, you will have a lot of camaraderie. Hundreds of shrimpers visit Central Florida's ICW bridges annually to take advantage of our unique shrimping sport fishery.

Like any other activity, when you try it, shrimping gets into your blood and tends to become as addictive as sport fishing, or sky diving. (Both sports native to the Titusville, Fl. area.)

When you DO become a dedicated sport shrimper, you will need some basic equipment to get your 5 gallon bucket limit.

A long handled circular dip net is a must for bridge shrimping. The regulars have learned to add extra handle lengths and reinforce the nets with tape to keep them from separating at the seams.

An array of home made or commercially purchased shrimp lights will be needed along with a power source to light up the water column. Lanterns are used in some areas, however underwater lights are preferred by the Indian River Lagoon shrimpers.

Most seasoned shrimpers use the small Honda type portable generators to power up to six underwater lights. When only one or two lights are placed out, a 12 volt battery can be used as a power source. The battery doesn't last very long when more than a couple of low voltage lights are used plus it's a pain to transport.

Shrimp traps are also used by some shrimpers. The rules and regulations for using them can be found HERE.

Finally, a 5 gallon bucket is needed to transport your shrimp. Florida allows one 5 gallon bucket per person per day as a "bag" limit. That's a bunch of shrimp!

When you become an addict to sport shrimping, you will want to customize your nets, traps, lighting arrays and start paying more attention to the Farmer's Almanac and tide charts.

Yes folks, it is addictive. I was out Friday and Saturday night to check it out, and despite the complaints from the "old timers" that "the run wasn't neer as good as last years" there were still a ton of sport shrimpers on both sides of the bridge having a great time.

Tight lines to all.

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.

Indian River Shrimping

When anyone mentions shrimping, most people automatically think BOAT.

Not in Brevard County, Florida.

With the moon full this past weekend, the shrimpers were again out in force.

Although a lot of shrimpers opt for a boat, many prefer the camaraderie of shrimping from a causeway or a bridge.

The Max Brewer Memorial Parkway bridge on the Indian River at Parrish Park in Titusville, Florida, is one such gathering place.   The shrimping cranks up in the fall but actually lasts well into the summer.

Shrimpers use 12 volt batteries, or small compact Honda type generators, to provide juice for their lights. Usually, several water proof white or green lights are positioned on the bottom for each person to light up the water column with.

Long handled, fine meshed circular dip nets are then used to "dip" the shrimp from the water when they are spotted swimming through the lit water column. 

The shrimp are collected in the "heel" of the dip net where they cannot escape and then periodically dumped into a 5 gal. bucket used for transport.

When the shrimp are "running" you can load up a bucket in a very short time. The trick is to know, when they are running.....

Since there is no tide in the northern Indian River Lagoon, the wind plays a major role in water movement and successful shrimping.

The full moon is also locally believed to be big factor in shrimping, however, I have reservations about it. I have seen some of the biggest jumbo shrimp ever caught on the back side of a full moon and at other times, during the full moon. I do believe it's easier to see them during a full moon.

I have been on the bridge a few hours after sunset, when the shrimpers have their lights out, and the place looks like a fish hatchery! The sea trout, usually under sized trout, are all over the place eagerly gulping down the shrimp.

This frenzied feeding activity often attracts super sized bull redfish that can be seen moving through the water column like mini submarines. Although this activity usually occurs in warmer weather, you never know when they are going to be there!

Baiting, cast netting, push netting, frame netting and shrimp traps are also allowed for recreational harvesting of shrimp.

A valid resident or non-resident saltwater license is required and the daily bag limit is 5 gallons, with heads on, per person, daily. Boaters are limited to a 5 gallon bucket per vessel per day.

Shrimping is an enjoyable, cheap, fun activity and for me; beats the hell out watching the boob tube all night.

CLICK HERE to check out the rules and regulations you will need to be aware of if you get the itch to go night shrimping on the Indian River in central Florida.

Who knows, you MIGHT even get a shot at one of those 40 pound bull redfish!

Tight Lines!!