Help fishing from the boat in the bay!

[DELRUS]

I wade alot using plastics and lures, never used live bait. I'm taking my family in the boat to do some red/trout fishing using live shrimp. I understand the poppin cork concept but would like to know from the poppin cork down how to rig for live shrimp fishing. Do I use those hooks made for shrimp with the spring loaded horn holder or just some #2 circle hooks? Where do I hook the shrimp threw the tail? Do I use split-shots for weights or what? Any info on fishing with live shrimp will be greatly appreciated! thank you in advance! -DELRUS-

[Aggieangler]

Hi Delrus,

We usually fish shrimp like this....

swivel
4-5 feet of 17-20 lb test mono (abrasion resistance for shell areas)
Alameda rattling float (adjust distance from hook depending on depth)
tie on kaehlin or circle hook
hook live shrimp right under the base of the horn, taking care not to hook the dark or red spot...brains!

We don't usually use a weight so that the bait swims more naturally. If you ae fishing strong current though, it is sometimes best to try a splitshot or 2. Have fun!

Aggieangler

[potlikker]

Delrus,

We drown alot of shrimp under a popping cork.
We use an egg sinker above a small swivel with about 18" of 20# test for a leader and a small treble hook. Set the cork for the depth that you want to fish.

Good luck,
Potlikker

[DannyMac]

Delrus, Popping cork, torpedo weight with swivel, swivel towards hook, 18"-24" of 20 to 30 lb. leader material, circle hook. If you are using shrimp, here's a couple of tips. use a drip net to catch shrimp in bait well, sun screen on your hands will kill the little critters in time, after leaving the dock change the water in the well, water around the bait camp is not as good as open bay water, freeze a liter bottle of water and put in bait well after changing water, this will lower the water temp and help keep those shrimp alive on hot days.

[DannyMac]

Delrus, one other tip, put some cloth at the bottom of your bait well, it gives the shrimp something to cling too. I have indoor/outdoor carpet glued to the bottom and sides of my well.

[DELRUS]

Thanks a million. I was wondering about that. That's sounds like a good idea. Will styrofoam work or anything else? I though about keeping um in the minnow bucket, but wasn't sure. I got a 24' Fishmaster and have a bait well in front of the console. Do I need to keep the air um on 24/7? If so I will keep them in the back well which has a recirculation pump, do they need to have fresh water pumped on um or is the recir. fine? Any more input on this will be great! Thank you so much Danny for the tip.

[DannyMac]

Delrus, I have an igloo ice chest with a recirculation pump that sprays the water. You can get 20 different opinions on keeping shrimp alive. I don't know much about a live well that let's fresh water circulate. I like to keep mine in an igloo, and keep the water cool, not cold. Yes, its a good idea to keep air pumping 24/7, but how long are you trying to keep them alive? Back in the day!--when I would put in all day back to backs, we would change the water at the end of the day, add a frozen bottle of water, and buy another quart of shrimp before leaving the camp, left the air pump running all night and would have a good quart ready the next day.
Here are some guidelines that have worked for me.
1. Change water after leaving the bait camp on your way to your first stop.
2. Cool the water in the well.
3. Use dip net.
4. Try to keep the bait well shaded, a wet towel works good.
5. Give the shrimp something to cling too.
6. Carry a spare aerator.
7. I use the Burgess aerator, I think they are at academy.
8. DON'T mix other live bait with your shrimp.
With the cost of shrimp between $10.00 - $15.00 a quqrt, it makes sense to take care of them. Now I know someone will ask, why don,t you use artificials, I do but I have fished saltwater going om 40 years and I am set in my ways. Live shrimp will always catch something.

[gilesco777]

delrus.... don't know if I am too late, but water depth is important. Make sure your leader is not too long if you are fishing the flats. If you are catching a lot of h-fish or crabs, your leader is probably too long. If your shrimp is hooked right, you will see him start jumping out of the water. Caught a 26'' red in 3 feet of water three weeks ago. With an 8'' leader and rattling cork, on light tackle..... Fishmaster 19ft!

[Castaway Kay]

Here are a couple of links that I have that may help you. One is various ways to rig live shrimp for differant applications, complete with pictures and detailed instructions, and the other I just think is really cool... how to keep bait shrimp alive without water. I haven't tried it, but it sounds like a neat idea, and if it works, even better! Hope these help ya out.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/floridafishing/shrimp.htm <~~ rigging live shrimp for various applications

http://saltfishing.about.com/cs/baitsandlures/ht/baitshrimp.htm <~~ how to keep baitshrimp alive WITHOUT water!

Kay

[flatsfats]

clean oxygenated water is the rule. there are a lot of good inexpensive aerators on the market. i personally don't like the little ones with the AA batteries. just too undependable. on the other hand most of the ones that use a bilge pump to circulate water and spray it back down work pretty well. just make sure no casualties (or trash ) end up around the water intake on your pump or in your spray lines and stop the pumping. i have a venturi type something like this:
http://www.keepalive.net/movies/KA1100.rm
i made my own redneck version and it works very well. if you are using shrimp take the foam filter off. your shrimp will want to stick to it and eventually they'll clog it up.


i read somewhere that the way an aerator works is that small air bubbles are injected into the water. there they exchange their oxygen for C02. the bubbles then carry the C02 to the top and burst releasing it. molecularly, cool water is less active than warm. meaning the cooler water is able to hold more oxygen. also your bait's metabolism is less active in cooler water and therefore they need less oxygen too.

make sure you have clean saltwater in your livewell and carry some 1/2 gallon jugs of ice with you. regulate the temperature in your livewell with the frozen jugs. i've never put anything in the tank for the shrimp to stick to but it sounds like a good idea.

also get some liquid anti-foam for your livewell. this stuff definately helps the oxygen exchange by keeping the foam off the top.

oh, if your using shrimp you do need to change the water out every 2-4 hours depending on your shrimp/water volume ratio. shrimp release a lot of nitrogen into the water. there are some chemical additives that you can use to offset this, but the easiest way is to just change water. and don't overcrowd them. a quart of shrimp to five gallons water is pushing it in my opinion. as mentioned above use a dipnet. "keep yer paws outa the livewell" (and watch the kiddos too). we carry a lot of toxins on our hands and never realize it. bug spray, sunscreen, 2cycle oil, etc.

hope this helps

[flatsfats]

this is the best explanation i've found yet.

http://www.keepalive.net/guide.htm

[Aggieangler]

Along the same lines as CASTAWAY KAY's post.....

I once heard an old timer talk about keeping shrimp alive in a bag of sawdust. Has anyone heard/tried this? Basically, he said you wet the sawdust in a bag, and add in your shrimp. He claimed also that they go into some kind of suspended state and that they revive immediately when put in the warm salt water we fish. He added that this was a common practice for jetty fishermen in south texas.

Fact or fiction? Up for you to decide. I may try to take a bag of sawdust next time I go, to try it out with a few of the buggers.

[Sace]

I read an article on this in a Texas Fishing Mag. It said that it does work, but I've never actually tried it myself.

[Hop]

When i was a kid that's how i bought my live shrimp down in Port Isabel. Quick stop bait stand on hwy 100 still sells them like that. All you gotta do is add a little ice in there with them and they stay alive a good 3 hours. As long as you keep the sawdust moist and cool.
--Hop