[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t is September already and my ears are still ringing from all the excitement from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville. The summer shrimp emerged out of the mud waking up the spirit that died off from the skunk last season. The shrimp are not impressive in size but are impressive in quantity.
Anglers are throwing down hard despite the heat and the nuisance task of culling out the by-catch and bait size shrimp (2-3 inch size). Their day is topped off with a strong rally successfully pulling 5 gallons just to go home with a 1/2 (keepers, 4” & up) of it to share with friends and family. The hauls do include 40% mediums after culling (4.5-5”) The remainder were returned back to the sea to grow up and become cowboys. The sizes are moody depending on what part of the tide your floating but the quantity has been strong & consistent even during the weakest moon phases. The boat flotilla’s have been under 20 boats but with these cluster runs filling freezers one one bag at a time so expect the inter-coastal to get busy. There is no way to predict how long this run is going to last. If you want to go cast net shrimping, do not procrastinate because we never know when they are going to show up and we never know when the run is going to end. With many 5 gallon reports landing on our forums, we are thrilled to see the white shrimp rebounding after being a NO SHOW in 2013 due to black gill disease. Jacksonville also sharing in some cricket delight banking 5 gallon buckets with their fair share of bait size shrimp thrown back to grow up. I am not certain it is worth towing up to Jax to hunt.
I am so excited to see the summer shrimp I started an on-line tourney, post a report and earn a ticket for a 10 foot custom made & color dyed Shumaker shrimping cast net with webbing sew in the lead line. ($250 value). Melbourne boys are still licking their wounds from a real disappointing summer run of the winter shrimp. The few shrimp they are see- ing are getting smaller. The reports have dried up which tells me they threw in the towel. This has to be one of the worst years for the die hards in S. Brevard. Lobster season was epic for those that put up with the 9 hour drive to the Keys. Scalloping is still going strong and the season closes September 24th.
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