| BEAUFORT BLOG ITEMS |
FALL SHRIMPING IN BEAUFORT
I've lived in a number of places around the country and fall is a great season
everywhere. The weather begins to cool, the leaves change colors, the air seems to be
unusually clear, utility bills go down, etc. Fall in Beaufort is no exception.
One important thing about fall in Beaufort, SC, or at least I think it is important - the
shrimp are in the creeks (in other words inshore as opposed to out at sea) and have
reached a nice eating size. In the Beaufort area we catch shrimp with a cast net thrown
from a boat in fairly shallow water
While easing the boat up and down the creek and casting for shrimp as you go can be
productive; in South Carolina, if the proper license is purchased and the rules are
followed, one is allowed to use bait to attract the shrimp and the use of bait to catch
shrimp is much more productive.
The typical bait is made by mixing fish meal with clay to form a large patty. We tend to
refer to them as bait balls even though most people prefer them to be sort of flat as
opposed to a round ball (that way the tide doesn’t move it and the net will slide over it).
Ideally you talk your shrimping partner into mixing up the bait and making the bait balls
as this job is a bit dirty and smelly. It may work if you offer to buy the beer if he does
the bait. Another possibility is for you to make the bait for the first time and really do a
bad job. With a little luck, your partner will do it from then on just to insure it is done
right.
The way it works is the bait ball is thrown in the water. The fish meal smell seeps out of
the bait ball and attracts the shrimp which then come to the bait ball to get the fish
meal. As a consequence, we have hopefully attracted a large number of shrimp into
one place so that we can cast our net over the bait and catch more shrimp per cast.
Some how I seem to average about eight shrimp per cast. Some of my friends claim to
catch 20 – 30 per cast on a good night. Guess I just haven’t had one of those good
nights.
As you might surmise, it is important to know where the bait is located in the water so
that one knows where to cast the net. This is accomplished by putting out poles in the
water, typically in a straight line and 10 yards apart. The poles have to be pushed
down in the sand or mud of the bottom sufficiently far to insure that they stand upright
in the water even when the tide is flowing strong. And they have to be long enough to
still be visible at high tide (the tide differential in this area is 6.8 feet). Most people use
poles that are 10 – 14 feet long. And since many prefer to shrimp at night, the top of
each pole has to have reflective tape so that the pole can be seen in the dark. Each
boat is allowed to have 10 poles. After the poles are placed in the water, a bait ball is
thrown several feet out and on the same side of each pole. That allows one to know
where the bait is located at each pole and gives an aim point for casting the net.
Speaking of nets, some of you might not be familiar with a cast net. It is a circular net
with weights around the perimeter. The weights sink to the bottom which traps the
shrimp under the net. When one pulls in the rope attached to the net, a series of
strings from the center out to the perimeter pulls the perimeter of the net in around the
shrimp. Once it is back over the boat and over a large tub, the shrimp are shaken from
the net into the tub. As you might guess, the larger the net, the more water it covers
and the more shrimp are caught per cast. The most common size is a 6 foot net (6 foot
radius, 12 feet in diameter) but some of the more accomplished shrimpers throw 7 or 8
foot nets.
Each boat is allowed to catch one 48 quart cooler full of shrimp per day. That’s a lot of
shrimp to head (take the heads off) especially if you shrimp at night and need to head
them before you go to bed. While you might be able to convince your partner to do all
the heading, doing so might not be a wise idea since you want to make sure you get
your half of the shrimp. So unless you can talk your spouse into it, you just have to
head half the shrimp.
Now you know how the fall in Beaufort, SC can be a great time to fill the freezer with
shrimp. Does it save any money? Probably not, but there’s just something about being
out on the water at night, about the sound the net makes when the weights hit the
water, about the feel of the shrimp bumping the net, and about finding your way back to
the dock on a moonless night..
I've lived in a number of places around the country and fall is a great season
everywhere. The weather begins to cool, the leaves change colors, the air seems to be
unusually clear, utility bills go down, etc. Fall in Beaufort is no exception.
One important thing about fall in Beaufort, SC, or at least I think it is important - the
shrimp are in the creeks (in other words inshore as opposed to out at sea) and have
reached a nice eating size. In the Beaufort area we catch shrimp with a cast net thrown
from a boat in fairly shallow water
While easing the boat up and down the creek and casting for shrimp as you go can be
productive; in South Carolina, if the proper license is purchased and the rules are
followed, one is allowed to use bait to attract the shrimp and the use of bait to catch
shrimp is much more productive.
The typical bait is made by mixing fish meal with clay to form a large patty. We tend to
refer to them as bait balls even though most people prefer them to be sort of flat as
opposed to a round ball (that way the tide doesn’t move it and the net will slide over it).
Ideally you talk your shrimping partner into mixing up the bait and making the bait balls
as this job is a bit dirty and smelly. It may work if you offer to buy the beer if he does
the bait. Another possibility is for you to make the bait for the first time and really do a
bad job. With a little luck, your partner will do it from then on just to insure it is done
right.
The way it works is the bait ball is thrown in the water. The fish meal smell seeps out of
the bait ball and attracts the shrimp which then come to the bait ball to get the fish
meal. As a consequence, we have hopefully attracted a large number of shrimp into
one place so that we can cast our net over the bait and catch more shrimp per cast.
Some how I seem to average about eight shrimp per cast. Some of my friends claim to
catch 20 – 30 per cast on a good night. Guess I just haven’t had one of those good
nights.
As you might surmise, it is important to know where the bait is located in the water so
that one knows where to cast the net. This is accomplished by putting out poles in the
water, typically in a straight line and 10 yards apart. The poles have to be pushed
down in the sand or mud of the bottom sufficiently far to insure that they stand upright
in the water even when the tide is flowing strong. And they have to be long enough to
still be visible at high tide (the tide differential in this area is 6.8 feet). Most people use
poles that are 10 – 14 feet long. And since many prefer to shrimp at night, the top of
each pole has to have reflective tape so that the pole can be seen in the dark. Each
boat is allowed to have 10 poles. After the poles are placed in the water, a bait ball is
thrown several feet out and on the same side of each pole. That allows one to know
where the bait is located at each pole and gives an aim point for casting the net.
Speaking of nets, some of you might not be familiar with a cast net. It is a circular net
with weights around the perimeter. The weights sink to the bottom which traps the
shrimp under the net. When one pulls in the rope attached to the net, a series of
strings from the center out to the perimeter pulls the perimeter of the net in around the
shrimp. Once it is back over the boat and over a large tub, the shrimp are shaken from
the net into the tub. As you might guess, the larger the net, the more water it covers
and the more shrimp are caught per cast. The most common size is a 6 foot net (6 foot
radius, 12 feet in diameter) but some of the more accomplished shrimpers throw 7 or 8
foot nets.
Each boat is allowed to catch one 48 quart cooler full of shrimp per day. That’s a lot of
shrimp to head (take the heads off) especially if you shrimp at night and need to head
them before you go to bed. While you might be able to convince your partner to do all
the heading, doing so might not be a wise idea since you want to make sure you get
your half of the shrimp. So unless you can talk your spouse into it, you just have to
head half the shrimp.
Now you know how the fall in Beaufort, SC can be a great time to fill the freezer with
shrimp. Does it save any money? Probably not, but there’s just something about being
out on the water at night, about the sound the net makes when the weights hit the
water, about the feel of the shrimp bumping the net, and about finding your way back to
the dock on a moonless night..
| DID YOU KNOW? The Following Movies Were Filmed In The Beaufort Area: The Big Chill The Great Santini Prince of Tides Forrest Gump G. I. Jane Forces of Nature Something To Talk About White Squall Last Dance The Jungle Book The War |
| Contact Woody Oakley for information about Beaufort, SC or about making Beaufort, SC your next home. |
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CHILLY WEATHER
I guess we have had some colder than normal days this year. At least my lemon trees
look that way. After two or three nights with temperatures in the low 20s, all the leaves
came off my two lemon trees. They're at least five years old and that has never
happened before. Maybe we normally only get one night at the time of low
temperatures. I don't know much about citrus trees, but they will probably recover if I
prune them back pretty far. The cold weather didn't seem to bother the grapefruit
tree. No leaves came off and it looks fine.
I guess we have had some colder than normal days this year. At least my lemon trees
look that way. After two or three nights with temperatures in the low 20s, all the leaves
came off my two lemon trees. They're at least five years old and that has never
happened before. Maybe we normally only get one night at the time of low
temperatures. I don't know much about citrus trees, but they will probably recover if I
prune them back pretty far. The cold weather didn't seem to bother the grapefruit
tree. No leaves came off and it looks fine.