GRASS SHRIMP, easy pickins

[chunking]

Ssince last weekend I have been working one minnow trap at the dock. Bait has been a piece of bunker or bluefish.

In four days I have been able to freeze a gallon of grass shrimp for this season. When I pull the trap the shrimp are in it, on it and around it.

With food being scarce and the water warming a little they seem to have gone on the feed big time.

There are always shrimp around but I have never seen them this thick. I check the trap each day on the way home from work and each day it is jammed with shrimp and a few jumbo minnows.

I have been placing the shrimp in a large zip lock bag and with a little seawater freezing them. This spring I want to tape a show where we anchor and chum with grass shrimp for weakies.

They way they are potting is amazing. A gallon in three pulls indicates that there will be a healthy food system in place when the gamefish return. Yesterday it was low tide when I checked. After pulling the pot I could see where the bottom was alive with shrimp. It looked like the bottom was moving.

I know most Barners don't have the oppertunity to check a minnow pot every day. (SUCKERS) If you do get down for a weekend and you want some grass shrimp just grab a minnow pot and some bait and find a secluded area around a dock where the current isn't strong.

I know if I could check the pot more often I would have a lot more. When I do pull it I believe that no more shrimp would try to go in because it was just over loaded.

I think that one day of checking a few times would produce what I have in three days. Just think what you could do with three or four pots.

I know that fishing still seems a ways off. This weekend last year is when the blizzard hit. This year the ice has already cleared out and the water temps have gone from 32 degrees to 36. No better time to be putting up bait than now. No competition and shrimp that are active and hungry. :cool:

[BIGGESTJACK]

I THINK I'LL GO DOWN THE SHORE AND CHECK A FEW MINNOW TRAPS??NOW WHERE SHALL I LOOK??

[chunking]

Hey BIGGEST.

You know where the trap is so go ahead.

Just a shame to have all those shrimp go to waste. D.N.C.C. :D :D :D

[BIGGESTJACK]

I LOVE TO EAT SHRIMP.MAYBE ON PIZZA.

[Brian E. Mullaney]

Grass Shrimp fly/teaser i tie then in a clear color as well. My favorite weakie fly.

http://www.saltwaterflyfishing.net/ultrashrimp13_400_300.jpg

[NIGHTSTRIKES]

Brian,
About How Long is that Fly?
Nice Work,,,

By Far GrassShrimp is on the The BackBay Stripers
Menu thru-out the Season...I Don't Know How
Many Times I Find Them Feeding On Them....

[ 02-11-2004, 10:14 AM: Message edited by: NIGHTSTRIKES ]

[chunking]

You got that right NIGHTSTRIKES.

Thats what amazes me around here.

When there are few blueclaw crabs oround we blame the stripers for eating them. Never mind the commercial pots and the draggers.

I do most of my fishing in the back back bay or just off the beach. I can say this without any doubt in my mind. IF EVERY FISH HAS SOMETHING IN IT'S STOMACH IT WILL BE A GRASS SHRIMP.

Flounder, striper, blues and weakies eat them constantly. Look in your cooler at the end of the day and there will be grass shrimp. Clean fish at the dock and check the stomach and there will be grass shrimp. Even a 50 pound striper will suck the little shrimp up like a vacum cleaner.

Short and sweet. Grass shrimp make up the main diet of all back bay game fish.

With that said there are grass shrimp everywhere.
Shallow or deep. Mudd or sand. hot or cold. It doesn't matter. When a gamefish wants to eat there will be a grass shrimp in front of it.

Everyone thinks of bluefish chasing schools of baitfish at the surface. Sure they do when the baitfish are schooled up. When the blues are in the back they spend most of their time down by the bottom eating shrimp.

If we are to believe that stripers are hurting the crab population then the grass shrimp should be extinct by now. :rolleyes:

[med]

Im gonna have to go over there and take a look...any sign of herring yet??? I was in N. Jersey for an engagement party over the weekend and went to Parsippany sports show and got some sabiki rigs 3/$5.00....and they are burning a hole in my tackle bag...trying to get out!!! ;)

[Joe D.]

Thanks for the info CHUNKING. I'll be down SIC this weekend for the polar bear plunge and I'm going to bring the trap and throw it in somewhere.

[THECHUMSTAIN]

I ordered 12 minnow traps save me some shrimp my fish are hungry.

[flukerat]

chunking please do a show of chumming grass shrimp for weakies that would be awesome. if you do please post when it will appear! BTW can you get video copies of previous shows I'd really like to see what is availible smile.gif

[Brian E. Mullaney]

Originally posted by NIGHTSTRIKES:
Brian,
About How Long is that Fly?
Nice Work,,,

By Far GrassShrimp is on the The BackBay Stripers
Menu thru-out the Season...I Don't Know How
Many Times I Find Them Feeding On Them.... That one is about 1.5"

[Ramblin]

Originally posted by flukerat:
chunking please do a show of chumming grass shrimp for weakies that would be awesome. if you do please post when it will appear! BTW can you get video copies of previous shows I'd really like to see what is availible smile.gif Me too please, heard of this a hundred times... Love to learn the method

[NIGHTSTRIKES]

Originally posted by Brian E. Mullaney:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by NIGHTSTRIKES:
Brian,
About How Long is that Fly?
Nice Work,,,

By Far GrassShrimp is on the The BackBay Stripers
Menu thru-out the Season...I Don't Know How
Many Times I Find Them Feeding On Them.... That one is about 1.5" </font>[/QUOTE]Thx Brian,
That is the exact size of the GrassShrimp
that I Find in the BackBays....
The Bass Just Explode On Huge Schools of Them
During The Night....

[Brian E. Mullaney]

Steve next time I see ya I'll bring a few with me. If Skip doesnt get em all :D

[Brian E. Mullaney]

From what i've heard from guys who chum em The hardest part is keeping them alive. You cant simply chuck em in a bucket.

I saw a slide show where a guide concocted a holder that had several "pens" seperated by window screening. Said it worked well.

[chunking]

Hey flukerat. Call 609-708-1666 and talk to Phil the camerman about the shows.

We will be doing a show with the grass shrimp this season and will post when it's going to run.

Hey Brian.

Only shrimp you realy need alive are the few you have on the hook. For chumming you can use frozen.
I freeze mine in saltwater and they hold color real good. The last thing you want to do is throw red shrimp.

I planned on doing this last year but tried collecting shrimp around the dock in May. Just couldn't catch enough for what I needed. I'm catching more now in five minutes than I could all evening last spring. I know if I wait I will run into the same problem. As the water warms a lot of these shrimp will move out of the sheltered waters. Gotta get them while you can. :D

[NIGHTSTRIKES]

Originally posted by Brian E. Mullaney:
Steve next time I see ya I'll bring a few with me. If Skip doesnt get em all :D Cool, I like to Try Them...They Look Great...

[Brian E. Mullaney]

Good point Fred - now that I think or try to think about it live shrimp would scatter quickly.

This will be a great show! Especially if you had a flyrodder catchin them from his kayak parked in your spot :D ;) ;) :D

[striper2278]

Originally posted by Brian E. Mullaney:
Steve next time I see ya I'll bring a few with me. If Skip doesnt get em all :D Yeah man :D

[Brian E. Mullaney]

I got a bunch for ya Skip!

[striper2278]

Originally posted by Brian E. Mullaney:
I got a bunch for ya Skip! Yippy!!!! :D

[JP Canning]

Add a little KOSHER SALT before you freeze the

little guys they stay even better !!

I'll post a picture of a shrimp box,when I figgure

out how to. JP

[Tip of the day]

Fred, save some for me. I need to replenish my tank as the minnows have finally got the last shrimp. They probably hunt more than a game fish. They sneak up very slowly, look around the corner and Kaboom, there goes another shrimp.

[flukerat]

thanks chunking, can't wait to see it :D

[2 fishes]

Fred did you ever consider running your show this time of the year when we have nothing to do rather than the summer when we are all out fishin.

[BBunker]

Brian, Don't forget ya owe me a few teasers also!

Teriyake boy, ROTFLMAO! ;)

[chunking]

Hey 2 fishes.

Believe me that sounds good.

I have nothing to do with when it airs. Not many local sponsors want to advertise during the winter.

In fact there is a good chance that the show may not even be on this season. We can't seem to find the kind of advertiser we need to make the show run without loosing money.

I guess the powers that be will have to make a decision soon. I'm looking at it as we will be on. Always trying to think about new ideas for shows. As soon as a decision is made I will let you know.

[2 fishes]

the reason that I suggested it is ESPN always runs their fishing shows in winter and hunting shows in summer...hope u get sponsers...how about videos of last years shows for sail?

[Fish4Life]

Fred those biggun fluke this past spring were loaded with grass shrimp. Do you ever use them for bait for fluke? I know the bucktail tipped with fresh/salted mac or bluefish is usually money that time of year.

[Brian E. Mullaney]

Originally posted by BBunker:
Brian, Don't forget ya owe me a few teasers also!

Teriyake boy, ROTFLMAO! ;) I got teasers for you, skip, and steve.

Biggest gets magic teasers for the duke.
:D