Shrimp Bait Issue.

[Daveinthebush]

I use commercial pellets mixed 50/50 with salmon fry meal mixed with herring oil. A friend mentioned it to me after I said something to him about the pellets not breaking down. It's ok if you hit sea lice but if not, the pellets are not breaking down like in the past. They shrink a little but then seem to not break down at all. So, I started removing the lids and taking a knife and swiping it 15-20 times across the pellets to help break them up a bit.

We'll see on the next pull how affective that is. Also, the guys doing well are using more bait containers. I hang three in the Donaldson pots. In my big parlor pots, there are five bait jars. Bait is way cheaper than gas so "Bait Up".

[kwackkillncrew]

I get my pellets from akshirmppots and i saw that prospectors carries the same brand. I have noticed that mine arent breaking down nearly as much but they are a year old at least (need to buy more). When i left them out over night the fleas took care of breaking them down. i figured it was because not much water movement but maybe after so long they start to dry out a bit and takes alot longer to suck up the water and break down. this year i fill my bait jars (nalgenes) half full for a days worth of pulling and dont have to hardly rebait because the pellets are breaking down so slowly.

[mersh13]

3-5 Bait jars per pot? I only use one and I feel like I do alright, been averaging 50 a pot this summer. I wonder how much better a few more bait jars would do.

I presoak all my bait and freeze it, then throw it in a bait jar. It breaks down plenty quick that way and is perfect for 4-6 hour soaks. For overnight I do the same except add more fresh stuff to the bait jar.

[Daveinthebush]

3-5 Bait jars per pot?

I like fat shrimp. But over in Port Valdez we usually do a two day soak.

[mark knapp]

We use natural food. Carcasses from everything else we catch (that's legal) It's free, works good.

[Daveinthebush]

Mark, I used to do that but found that the bones clogged bilge pumps and scuppers. The pellets were the cheap way to bait. I think a 44-pound bag of pellets is over $100 now. I got lucky and found a charter/commercial shrimper going out of business and got two bags for $40. Fish smolt feed is free, free to me. If the bags are damaged, the hatcheries can't use them. I may, try to grind up pinks this fall and freeze them in chunks for the pots as an experiment. Someone else used to do that and did well.

[mark knapp]

Mark, I used to do that but found that the bones clogged bilge pumps and scuppers. The pellets were the cheap way to bait. I think a 44-pound bag of pellets is over $100 now. I got lucky and found a charter/commercial shrimper going out of business and got two bags for $40. Fish smolt feed is free, free to me. If the bags are damaged, the hatcheries can't use them. I may, try to grind up pinks this fall and freeze them in chunks for the pots as an experiment. Someone else used to do that and did well.

We are always just dumping the bone over board. Always did it that way. When I first saw people paying for shrimp bait, I thought it was funny. Now I know it's a thing but I still just use by-products, get a lot of those. You can even pick them up free at the fish cleaning tables if you want.

Different strokes.