It may be common knowledge to some, but it’s probably safe to say that most anglers are unaware that the grass beds in Shearon Harris Lake are literally teeming with freshwater grass shrimp, which make an excellent shellcracker bait, according to guide Greg Griffin.
“You can take a bait net and swish it through the grass and come up with shrimp bigger than you think, right up to a half-inch,” said Griffin. “They look just like the shrimp you would eat, and they make fantastic bait. You can put up to five of them on a hook. They’re clear, but the shellcrackers know what they are.”
With such a successful bait option, isn’t it a wonder that no one is selling them? Actually, they are. A bit too far to make a bait run for Harris, Neuse River Bait and Tackle in Grantsboro catches wild grass shrimp and freezes them to sell.
Measuring as long as 2 inches, grass shrimp get a little bigger the farther east you go, but they are commonly used by the locals for bream, crappie, white perch and even puppy drum. It may take a while, but with any luck, the trend will catch on and you’ll soon find another bait option in your local tackle shop to mix with your night crawlers.
