Taking standard soft plastic shrimp and turning them into killers is well within your control. Take for example, the standard Rip Tide or DOA soft plastic shrimp. These shrimp come out of the package with the perfect shape/outline, but when a little make-up is applied, you have a really dressed up and perfect looking shrimp that will fool the old man that typically ignores most artificial offerings. I have said this before in different articles, but the most basic of all fishing concepts is getting (whatever you are fishing for) to put your bait or lure in it’s mouth long enough for you to set the hook. It’s a simple theory, but true. I have seen many fish come behind the bait and then for some reason flare away, not to be seen again. This was because of one of more reasons. It didn’t look, smell, act or sound right. Even with live bait, if your hook is too large, tag ends too long, big mono leader and/or swivel too large—something made it not right, so it did not get into its mouth, and you did not get to set the hook.
These days, with my limited time, relentless weather, cost of fuel, etc., I am spending much more time in the backwaters where this shrimp really comes into play. I have been introduced into the rapidly advancing world of kayak and electric powered watercraft for fishing the backwaters. I never knew anything like today’s kayaks existed until a couple years ago when I fished from a Hobie (peddle powered) kayak. With almost effortless footwork, you can power ahead with stability and surprising speed. Then I experienced the Freedom Marine Twin Troller—Boy, what a wake-up call! Talk about hands free fishing. That’s all I’ll say about the ever-changing world of (skinny) watercraft. That’s how you get there, this is how you catch them.
Back to the shrimp. I said all that, to say this: Everything eats a shrimp. If you have limited room for rods (like from a kayak), I would have just two rods, one with a float (popping and/or sliding), and one without a float with this shrimp.
To give this natural color #47 (Rip Tide) shrimp the ultimate look, color the eyes, and not the entire stem, (black or red) with Spike-It coloring and a Q-Tip. Next, dip just the very edge of the tail Chartreuse, or use a Q-Tip if the liquid level is low in the bottle. This coloring visually turns this into a perfect white shrimp. Now address the smell of the shrimp. I like the shrimp flavored PRO-CURE gel. There are others but I have a certain degree of confidence with PRO-CURE. With the smell just right, they kept the bait in their mouth long enough for you to set the hook. Now let’s address the action of the shrimp and how it swims. I have run out of room (words) for this article, but you can watch the full-length video of the entire process on the website titled “Trickin’ Out The Shrimp” in the How-To section. In this video, I will address the look, smell, act and sound in detail. April is no foolin’.
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