By Capt. Lee Noga
Shrimping season is in full swing. The sounds of 5 gallon buckets echo from Titusville to Oak Hill, Florida. Seems Volusia County has been more kind and shows mercy spiting a minimum of 1-2 gallons on any given night. Titusville on the other hand remains moody in February/March and is starting to show some excitement from the Titusville pier all the way to Haulover Canal. Bottom line – when it comes to Brevard County, those crickets are going to run when they feel like it. Brevard has been cruel at times making the die hard shrimper pull for 12 hours to make bank. March/April is magical in Brevard, and Oak Hill feels the pressure of the fair weather shrimpers joining the anglers who have been in the extreme conditions since January.
The fronts are a memory, and the evenings are pleasant. Brevard hands down have the largest shrimp and you just have to put in your time and stay connected to Intel so you can time your trip. Oak Hill has had impressive sizes in late February and March. April the sizes tend to start going smaller even though you can still cull out and load up on preferred sizes. Last year, I did not retire my mono in Volusia County until May 17th . I had to cull 20 gallons of mixed sizes with a high majority 4” and smaller. Volusia County anglers, you are running out of “size” time, go out as often as you can.
Plan for Oak Hill, Edgewater has not shown much signs of life compared to Oak Hill giving up the full pulls. We have had reports of 8” shrimp in Oak Hill with the big fellas coming out to play on the back end of the tide. Brevard remains King of slobs with buckets full of mediums and up (5 inches plus). The Titusville pier has found its stride, and those plank warriors are pulling a couple of gallons when the stars line up perfectly.
Volusia will start to wind down and N. Brevard will be the best seat in the house, April is the best month to load up on crabs and shrimp at Haulover Canal. Intel is key, saves gas and reduces your chance of wasted time, plug into our 3000+ member community and read the inside track at forums link at LeeNoga.com. Post a report and earn drawings into the prize pool, we are giving away a custom made Bimini top for your boat, shrimp gear and more. Need top of the line gear? Capt Lee is the one to call (386)479-4175. Don’t forget to give your significant other a “just because” gift this month, it reduces the days in the doghouse because you felt the call to chase before the season slips away and summer temperatures creep in.
Captain Lee Noga
Academy of shrimping
www.leenoga.com