We’ve been waiting, and February is the month where the runs are less sporadic. We enter a consistent more productive pattern. January was a bust in Central Florida compared to last year where Titusville was cast netting white shrimp all day long starting in November ending in May. We are not seeing the white shrimp yet, but the waters are cooling off and I suspect we will see them in our mix. Edgewater is producing a handful in early January and Oak Hill has given up a few to maybe a half a gallon. But, the sizes are better than this time last season. We are cycling thru a cold-water fish and bait kill due to sudden drop in the water temperature. Many snook and tarpon have died in this arctic blast and it is illegal to harvest any fish out of season even when in distress near shore. The love of the sport and the shrimping fever rising folks are getting real anxious and frustrated things are not happening now. One cold snap does not make a shrimp run. We are still 30 days from a full pull realistically speaking. The fact that we are seeing shrimp in Central Florida going back to November be re-assured we are not going to get skunked. Hurricane Irma is not going to shut us down just because she came in and destroyed our grounds chewing up all the docks for miles. We locals are still ner- vous running the channel edge due to sailboats/debris that sunk and are not marked. The fish kill from early January will reduce the number of shrimp killed in the food chain. This means more shrimp survive to be harvested by anglers. This is just nature’s way. For daily reports and chang- ing intel, join our Facebook® group, “Florida Shrimping Academy- Tips & Tricks. My face time seminars will be announced in this forum, or Capt. Lee Noga’s FB page.
