We have a lot of information to report on this month. The white shrimp started running strong mid-July and then we ran into several days of storms that slowed the run down. They appeared around North and South Granada late July and were spotted North of LPGA Blvd to St. Augustine. The last few years Central Florida has had either a short run or extremely small run in size. Our last epic year was 2011 and it went downhill from there. This year, anglers are landing 10 gallons in Flagler County. The hot spot has been in Flagler County this season until the shrimp turned around and headed South back to South Daytona around CM 46. Bottom line, those white crickets can be anywhere between South Daytona and 20 miles North on any given day. They have been so plentiful at times it has required culling out the smalls so they can take home 3 gallons of edible sizes. Jacksonville has its run on and when Central Florida dries up several choose to tow to Walaka, Palatka, Green Cove Springs and Shands areas. Rumor has it there has been some success catching edible sizes in Oak Hill. Titusville Pier continues to draw crowds, the best side has been the South side. The counts are erratic. Even with counts of less than 15 shrimp the Pier continues to draw hopefuls. Melbourne has been consistent as long as the rains hold off. East Shore Banana River side CCB Relief Bridge has been teasing shrimpers with OK to poor results.
Trapping on the East shore has yielded up to 1â2 gallon and over a dozen blue crabs to show for their nightâs worth of work. Some anglers are trapping and dipping the east shore and plucking 14 – 225+ on some nights. The sizes are averaging 4 â 6â, with the majority being 4-5â inches. Sugar Loaf Key rewarded many anglers with nice size lobsters during the mini season! Scallop season ends this month on Sept 24th. Crystal River has been kind to those who have been going there for years, and skunky for new hunters. Keaton Beach has been producing the easy scalloping limits with nice size meat. Just go north of the Keaton Inlet to the bird rack and start diving. Breaking news, the mono- filament frame or box nets are ILLEGAL due to the material choice of mono- filament. The statute 68B-4.0081 Article X, section 16 of the Florida constitution states, â…any net constructed wholly or partially of mono-filament of any size is prohibited other than a hand thrown cast net, dip or landing netsâ. The nets must be made of polypropylene, nylon, cotton, or linen. FWC will be enforcing this statute. The entire statute can be found on LEENOGA.COM. Marker69.com is working with Ed Shumaker and we will have a law compliant box frame net before the winter season starts in November. Please do NOT blow my phone up expressing your anger, I am just the messenger. This curve ball just dropped our industry on our heads and I encourage everyone to take this issue seriously and not be the poster child in Court. Stay Connected, âFlorida Shrimping Academyâ on Facebook
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