The 2014 Winter Shrimping Season Is Officially ON

From Titusville to Oak Hill, Florida, the 2014 winter shrimping season is in full swing.

The sounds of five gallon buckets echo throughout the night on both of Titusville's  fishing piers as sport shrimpers of all kinds try to load them up with jumbo "crickets" as they are called by the locals .

So far this April, Volusia County has been on fire with reliable harvests and predictable action night after night from the Lopez area of Oak Hill to as far North as the New Smyrna Beach pier.

The Oak Hill area, noted for their small size shrimp, has been providing sport shrimpers of late with some impressively sized shrimp that have  not been seen in years.

The shrimp are averaging from 4-3/4" to over 5" and most of the boats are making full pulls (30lbs/5 gallons) .  Volusa County shrimpers in general have been harvesting a minimum of 1 to 2 gallons of shrimp on any given night under the lights.  This video shows how easy it is to get a cooler full when you hit the tide right.

Although Oak Hill shrimp occasionally reach impressive sizes during late February through March, usually in April the size of the shrimp harvested gets considerably smaller.

You'll still be able to cull out some large shrimp, but the majority will be 4" or smaller; much less than the preferred size.

If you're shrimping in Volusia County, plan to hit Oak Hill.   Edgewater has not

been as productive as Oak Hill and if you hit the back end of the tide, you can still get a shot at some of the big 8" shrimp in Oak Hill before the "smallies" take over.

From February to date, Brevard County shrimping remains moody.

Titusville shrimpers from Haulover Canal, to the railroad bridge, to the fishing piers on the Indian River are having a more difficult time filling their buckets.

It has been reliably either very hot or totally cold since the first of April.

The shrimp in Brevard County seem to run when they feel like it and some of the die hard shrimpers on the rails dip all night only to harvest a half bucket.

The difference between a good and bad night shrimping during the shrimp run seems to boil down on how well you set up your underwater light field.

The old timers who shrimp on a regular basis know that a badly laid out light field makes for a bad night on the pier.   They also seem to know when to go shrimping and when to stay at home.

Knowing when to go obviously gives you an advantage.   If the winds are blowing in over 10 knots, don't bother loading up your shrimping gear.

Timing is everything, and March and April are magical in Brevard County.

The cold fronts for the most part are a distant memory and the pleasant evenings make the two fishing piers a gathering place for sport shrimpers, night fishermen and party-goers alike.

Although the shrimp in Brevard County are by far much larger than anywhere else in Florida, you have to put in your time on the rails and plug in to local shrimping information to make it worthwhile when you schedule a trip to our area.

Brevard remains King of the slobs (jumbos), and when the stars are lined up perfectly, Titusville pier shrimpers can load up their buckets with mediums and jumbos of over 5".

April is also the best month to load up on blue crab and shrimp at Haulover Canal.

I've been told that as Volusia County shrimping starts to wind down, North Brevard will be the best seat in the house.

It appears it's time to get out and enjoy the 2014 winter shrimping season.

Night Shrimping On The Indian River Is Picking Up

Evidently night shrimping on the Indian River is picking up a bit.

Yesterday evening just after the full moon, the new fishing piers were populated with a variety of shrimpers and night fishermen who were thoroughly enjoying the evening.

The temperatures are getting cooler and this month should see an increase in the amount and size of shrimp that are being dipped from both piers.

I was told by a couple of old timers that Haulover Canal shrimpers are getting more than their share of shrimp by boat.

The dirty little secret is that Haulover Canal is pretty decent for shrimping almost all year around.

A few shrimpers I talked to were using 12 volt batteries with the lights below hooked up in tandem with good results.

The days of gas powered generators powering underwater lighting arrays are pretty much over with.

These days the shrimpers are plugging into the outlets on the pier or bringing their own batteries.

The underwater lights in the pic are relatively cheap and put out enough light to do the job. When a few are hooked up together, they light up the water column enough for easy snagging.

Most of the shrimp caught were large to jumbos which is common for this area.

Around Oak Hill farther north in the ICW, the shrimpers are catching more shrimp but they are almost always smaller in size.

I plan on picking up some more underwater lights and giving it a try again.

The last time I went shrimping was in Haulover Canal in my old boat a few years ago.

I loaded up on shrimp, but had to spend the night out on the water until I could get a tow into the boat launch the next morning.

My old Mercury outboard wouldn't start and even though I enjoyed the night's activities, I learned why Mosquito Lagoon got it's name.

Till next time, Tight Lines!