Shrimping season has ended for those who fought a long war in Volusia County from November to May 2015. Yes, the shrimp are still in the river but the sizes are very small averaging 3 inches with a small percentage above 4 inches. The bait fish are are in blacking out our lights, the mosquito’s are a nuisance. Yes, you can still go and chase but you will be culling out 99.9% of your catch. However, you still are with options. Brevard found themselves shrimping the Oak Hill & Edgewater grounds when their season was off to a very late start. Things improved in Brevard about mid March and Haulover Canal was on fire for about 30 days. Railroad Bridge has been producing too.
The Titusville pier plank warriors are harvesting amounts in the 3 digits (i.e. – 122 count). We know there is a lot of soldiers chasing in Brevard but are keeping the intel on the low down. This tells me Brevard is where it is at and if you want to still shrimp set sail to Brevard County. The scouts in South Brevard Melbourne are closely watching for shrimp movement at Mather’s Bridge and Eau Gallie Causeway. The reports are not encouraging but then again it took until March for North Brevard to turn on. Seawall trappers are reporting small numbers but we all know at some point all the hot spots will start producing sending S. Brevard into a frenzy.
The sizes that are coming through S. Brevard are obnoxiously huge compared to Oak Hill standards. A 7 inch shrimp is nothing to those Melbourne folks yet in Oak Hill that is a party in a bottle moment. June is still a great month for Haulover Canal and Railroad Bridge. Last year many full pulls were reported from these waters in June. To me it’s hard to think about shrimping when it is 90 degrees at night and the afternoon violent with sea breeze fronts colliding Just the other night I was out for my last 5 gallon bucket in Edgewater, and I saw so many mullet swimming into my lights. That is when I knew it was time to end my season and think about some night fishing and dancing with the big fish. If your ending your season take a moment and spray your nets down in fabric softener and let dry. Rinse the saltwater off first before applying the spray. We have scouts out in the summer shrimping grounds in S. Daytona.
Typically the summer run starts June – July. Summer shrimping turns on from Volusia County to Jacksonville and it is a sport of cast netting in the day time. These shrimp are the white shrimp and they love light and hang on the bottom of the inter-coastal 20+ feet down. We locate them on our fish finder sonar and throw down on top of them. Book your scalloping reservations at Crystal River, Steinhatchee, Keaton or Homossossa now, they are filling up! Season opens June 25th.
Capt Lee Noga • Academy of Shrimping www.leenoga.com • (386) 479-4175