It's that time of year. Anyone getting any in the west central Florida area? Heard of any good reports?

I tried to make it out last night but failed. There was a good low tide for it just after dark.

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In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain

They're there.

Gotten any yourself or just hearing what's being brought in?

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In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain

Any size?

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Report from friend who's been several times already.

Hmmmmm....I shore do like me some fresh bay shrimp.

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In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain

This has been a winter up here for shrimp.

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Huh?

Strange... shrimp make their run up the St. John's river over here in the late summer/fall...

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I meant great...lol

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Where do you find them?

Our tenant owns/runs his shrimp boat out of Hudson, he had a better than normal winter.

We just got done building a flat bottom shrimp boat for down south.

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

I can speak from personal experience. Have been out every week for a month checking on them. They are there....but they are small. I mean every now and then a big ole sucker shows up but havent had many.


WHen I shrimp I do it out of longboat pass. Im a cheater. I anchor my boat under the bridge between the pilings. I have big underwater lights...and when the shrimp drift by on an outgoing tide...i scoop them up. I could do it with a beer in my hand...

Reguardless its fun and takes almost nothing to do. If anyone wants to do this as a group let me know. I have the lights/batteries for them. All we need is someone's boat (bigger than my little carolina skiff)

~Dave

Did you go last weekend, Dave? From my understanding the season really starts near the end of this month. I was wondering if it started earlier this year due to the warmer winter. I don't much like wasting my time on the small ones. I'm looking for the bigger ones that are ready to head out to spawn.
Here's some info on their life cycle.
Understanding Shrimp Cycles | Tools & Information | General Shrimping Information

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In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain

First time I've heard of the shrimp running out there! .... early summer, drop in upstream on a hard outgoing tide and hug the bottom as you coast under the main span... like goin' through Jurassic park... REAL hard not to carry a gun....

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Hi Marcus,

Thanks for linking to my website!

Shrimp are definitely running but they are small right now. Nothing wrong with that but some people like to wait till they get really big in May. Personally, I like a mix and small ones go great with pasta.

There are a lot of them right now so you can get quite a few if you have the right equipment and go out at the right time.

They will continue to be present from now until the first days of July, getting the biggest in mid May to late June.

Hope to see some of you out there!

Hey Ozello,

Much thanks for logging in and providing additional info! You've got a great website there.
Ozello Shrimper | Recreational Shrimping Equipment and Information

So, you're saying that there really isn't a mass shrimp movement event and that it really happens over the course of a couple months?

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In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain

Quite the contrary, there definitely is a mass shrimp movement that occurs in mid May to early June and disappears the first days of July. It is their spawning period.

Shrimp will always be there, all the time.

If you go out now, they will be small because they are still growing and some are heading out to spawn before they are big enough or before the rest of the group is ready.

Once May comes around, they all school together through instinct to ride the big tides out to the Gulf. This is when they are on the flats in droves.

Then, they disappear for a few months until they get big enough to see and the season begins again.

It's all a big cycle. Some shrimp don't follow the cycle perfectly so, we get a lead-in to the season that lasts a few months.

Expect small shrimp right now and big ones later on.

Hey Richard.
Based on your past experience, how might it look this year since last season ended sooner than normal?
John

In all honesty, it is hard to say.

The best explanation for the early end to the season that we have come up with is the cold snap that occurred in the winter just before the season and the early end to the winter that happened. It probably forced the shrimp out earlier than normal - kicked off their instincts to spawn before it was time.

Whether or not the same thing happens this year is completely up to chance. If it does, I'll have to start modifying my predictions a bit more based on how harsh or mild the winter season is.

I'd say get out shrimping if you can and catch what is there. If the season ends early, you can say you caught something instead of waiting for the normal peak. If everything operates as expected, normally, you will have that many more shrimp for the freezer.

How did you do last season?