Shrimp baiting 101

Get your limit of shrimp with these tips

The recreational shrimp baiting season is a highly anticipated event for inshore saltwater anglers. Scads of shrimpers head for South Carolina’s coastal waters to catch these tasty, and abundant, morsels of the sea beginning in September. 

The specific season dates vary annually because the shrimp baiting fishery is set by law to last 60 days. It opens at noon on the last Friday on or before Sept. 15 annually.

For 2024, the dates are from noon on Sept. 13 until noon on Nov. 11. A daily limit is 48 quarts of whole shrimp, or 29 quarts of headed shrimp, per day, for each shrimp baiting permit holder and poles. 

Shrimpers have reason to be upbeat about the 2024 recreational shrimp baiting season, because shrimp stocks are very good this year based on summer sampling.

Jeff Brunson, Crustacean Manager (shrimp and crabs) for the SCDNR works out of the Marine Fisheries Management Office in Charleston, and said the outlook is very good for this season.

“Going back to last year, 2023, we had a very good year for white shrimp, the primary target for recreational bait shrimpers at the time the season is open,” Brunson said. “And our data from sampling this year so far indicates another good year in 2024, maybe better than in 2023.”

Good numbers

Brunson said the monitoring efforts in the summer are generally conducted in and around the Charleston Harbor area, but that’s proven to be reliably indicative of the shrimp population all along the South Carolina coast.

“While recreational shrimpers have good reason to be excited about the 2024 season, things can change,” he said. “Tropical systems can move through and drop a lot of fresh water into the inshore area, flushing the shrimp out of the inshore areas into the ocean. That won’t harm the shrimp population, they’ll simply move out to water where the salinity is right for them. But that can negatively impact baiting season results.”

Brunson said the surveys shrimpers receive at the end of the season help SCDNR manage the resource, as it provides valuable data on the harvest. 

“The data shows that annually about 800,000 quarts of shrimp are taken during the baiting season by recreational shrimpers, and that’s not an insignificant number,” he said. “That’s a lot of shrimp. But shrimp are abundant and prolific, so that’s not considered a huge impact on the overall shrimp population.”

Most recreational bait shrimpers work as a team, with one person throwing the net and the other driving the boat. 

A few recreational shrimpers do it alone. It’s a difficult task, but hardcore shrimpers can be successful going solo. 

Mike Cox and Guy Blanton from Bonneau, SC have been shrimping partners for years. They have worked out an effective system for shrimping as a team, and shared some of the tactics they employ. 

Cox said the simple view of shrimping is to locate an area where shrimp are found, set out the 10 poles as provided by the regulations, place bait near the poles and cast the net directly over the bait. They repeat the process until a limit is boated. While that sounds simplistic, other factors are involved. First is to ensure you’re completely legal. 

“It’s best to read the rules and regulations carefully to ensure you have proper licenses as well as safety equipment in your boat,” Blanton said. “If you are checked by wildlife officials, they will be looking for those things as well as the amount of shrimp you’ve caught. Odds are high you’ll get checked. I’ve learned to have everything at hand to simplify the process.”

The site you select to do your shrimping is a key to success, and one way is to watch where other boats set up and find a similar area, he said. 

Watch the tides

“Don’t crowd the other boats. Shrimp are plentiful in the right locations, and the regulations say you’ve got to be a specific distance away from other sets of poles,” Blanton said. “Select a site that corresponds to the water movement of a rising or dropping tide. If rising, set your poles in shallower water so they won’t be underwater at high tide. Likewise, if the tide is high but dropping, set them in deeper water so they won’t be high and dry at low tide.”  

Cox said generally the best shrimping will be on a moving tide, and then slowest on the slack water time between tides. 

“Having moving water in one direction or the other is the key factor,” Cox said. “And usually that location will be where the bottom contours change, such as along a ditch or channel. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic change in depth to hold shrimp in a specific area.” 

The bait, placement of the bait, and cast net strategy are key components to success. 

Cox and Blanton prepare their bait balls prior to the trip, to spend more time actively shrimping once on the water. The baits typically consist of ground up fishmeal, such as menhaden, mixed about 50/50 with a clayish mud in the form of a flattened baseball. Fishmeal and clay can be purchased at many places near the coast.

“We don’t use round bait balls because a strong tidal flow can move them along the bottom, and it’s essential the net man hit the target to maximize the shrimp catch,” Cox said. “We make them flat, which I think inhibits them from moving once we put them out.”  

Go for the poles

“The poles provide a reference to the bait location, and the bait is where shrimp congregate,” Blanton said. “So that’s the target for the cast net. We don’t just toss bait out randomly, once we set the poles. We drop the bait the same distance from each pole. That distance can be influenced by the size of the net and skill of the net thrower. On each cast, I like the net to open where the extreme end is only a foot from the pole, ensuring I’ve centered the bait. It makes a huge difference in the number of shrimp caught on each cast.”

“The key to getting a limit of shrimp is having the net cover the bait. So poles should be set in a way that allows the tidal current, and wind current, to work in favor of the boat operator to easily put the boat in the ideal position for the person throwing the net. Equally important, while the net is being retrieved and emptied, the prop of the motor must stay away from the bait or it will prop-wash and scatter the bait, and scent, away from the net target. If not, on the next pass, the scattered bait disperses the shrimp, instead of concentrating them at a specific spot.”

A factor in this consideration is also how the net man throws the net. Some throw right-handed, some left-handed. Put the bait in a position where the wind or current, whichever is stronger, pushes the boat away from the pole after the net is cast. 

“It’s a process that requires a bit of forethought,” Cox said. “However, with a couple of minutes of planning the tide and wind currents, shrimpers can be much more effective.”

Cox and Blanton usually place a single bait on the poles to begin, to ensure they’re in a productive area. If the first casts are effective, they’ll commit more bait balls to the process to attract more shrimp. 

Follow the regs, complete the survey

Jeff Brunson said recreational shrimpers who purchase a license receive a survey after the season. And he urges shrimpers to complete the survey to help biologists better manage the resource.

The rules for shrimping are not difficult and Brunson said no new changes are set for this year. He said it’s always a good idea to check the regulations prior to each season. 

“It’s good to review the rules prior to the season every year,” he said.

Brunson said the rules for shrimp baiting require the purchase of a $25 license for South Carolina residents. The rules do stipulate that license holders may be assisted by a resident who is not required to have a shrimp baiting permit.

For complete details go the SCDNR website. Brunson recommends all shrimpers read the rules and regulations at: https://www.eregulations.com/southcarolina.