Deep hole shrimper shares top tips
Plenty of shrimp are in the lowcountry creeks and bays of South Carolina, and even though shrimp baiting season isn’t in yet, you can catch them without baiting. Amy Anderson of Mt. Pleasant catches plenty of shrimp without bait, and said three main keys keep her on the shrimp.
The first and most obvious, Anderson said, is her Fitec deep hole shrimping net. This type of net has a wide strip of material — often referred to as tape — along the hem of the net. This tape helps the net open fully while it’s descending in the water column, and it has a long rope to reach holes as deep as 50 feet or more.
A depth finder is her second necessity. This helps her find the deepest holes in the area, and these holes can be found within sight of many of the boat landings along Charleston Harbor, the Folly River, and many other lowcountry waterways.
Pinpoint the deepest hole
“You want to find the ledge leading to the deepest hole, and that’s where you want to cast. You can find the general area by looking for places that a smaller creek or river empties into the main channel. But a depth finder allows you to pinpoint the deepest hole. If you’re a foot off in one direction or the other, you might not catch any shrimp at all. But if you’re on the hole, you’re going to catch them.”
“The depth can change from 25 feet deep to 40 feet deep really quickly, and you want to know where that depth change is, and you want to be able to go back to that spot quickly. A depth finder helps you do that,” she said.
Last, but not least, on Anderson’s list is a boat driver who communicates with her constantly while she’s preparing to make a cast.
“I want them watching the depth finder and calling out the depth to me as we approach the hole, even when the depth changes as little as one foot. The transducer is located on the back of my boat. So I have to factor that in when deciding when to cast. Having the boat driver call those numbers out to me is a big help,” she said.
The driver also needs to shift smoothly when Anderson calls for them to put the boat in reverse, neutral, or forward, otherwise she can end up in the water real fast.
Constant communication is important
“And when I call for neutral, reverse, or whatever, it also helps for them to tell say ‘neutral,’ or whatever once they shift. That way I know they heard me. And I know they’ve done it so I’m not wasting time wondering,” she said.
Anderson’s favorite part of deep hole shrimping is feeling the shrimp hitting the net once she’s on them. It’s a similar type of feeling that rod-and-reel anglers feel when they are getting a bite.
“It’s like a flicking feeling when they run into the net. I just love that feeling. It’s hard to describe to someone that hasn’t felt it. It’s addictive. When I feel it, I know I’m about to bring some red legs on the boat,” she said.
What size net?
Like most fishing topics, everyone has an opinion about the proper net size. Some say the bigger, the better, Others say the heavier, the better. But the general consensus is a happy medium.
The best net, in the opinion of most lowcountry deep hole shrimpers we spoke to, is a 12-foot radius net with 5/8-inch mesh and 1 pound per radius foot of weight.
“It sinks fast because the holes are big enough. I like the 1 pound because it’s easier to throw. I could go heavier and likely catch more per cast. But I would be worn out in a shorter period of time. And the 12-foot size is big enough to cover plenty of ground,” said Brian Carroll of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Click here for a great shrimp recipe that is quite different than most.
