Well how did everyone do on the shrimp opener?
- Thread starter akdube
- Start date
Kardinal_84
New member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2009
- Messages
- 1,710
- Reaction score
- 87
5 dozen shrimp (plus another dozen shells...arghh) so maybe 2 gallons whole? That was two small kayak pots (12"X12"24") on an overnight soak. A buddy fished Sat and Sun and reported back 7 gallons whole shrimp from a 26ft hewscraft.
I got a lot of quality work done on our boat in the harbor. 
wildwill
New member
We got almost 3 gallons of tails. Beautiful day ever on Saturday. We picked three times on Saturday and got most of the shrimp we came home with. Sunday morning provided very few on the overnight soak--plus one octo, which we put in a bucket because my buddy wanted to show to his kids before dispatching for hali bait. Unfortunately, we let our guard down and it disapeared. I am still hoping he founds his way over or out and isn't down in my bilge somewhere.
Had a great weekend despite the fact that we screwed up far more than we got right. This season is a very steep learning curve for me--and I certainly feel like the idiot folks always talk about seeing at the launch ramp. Other than the learning curve, all great and cannot wait to give it another run.
Will
Had a great weekend despite the fact that we screwed up far more than we got right. This season is a very steep learning curve for me--and I certainly feel like the idiot folks always talk about seeing at the launch ramp. Other than the learning curve, all great and cannot wait to give it another run.
Will
patrickL
New member
I guess we were the big loser for the weekend as we bombed on the shrimp. My wife wanted to go somewhere new and given the rarity of that I jumped all over it. Normally she's to worried about the gas prices so we stay close this time of year to stock up on shrimp. So I took advantage of her excitement and let her pick a new place. We were only out Saturday and Sunday in Eeglek Bay and only brought home around 80 tails over 3 pulls. We were only averaging just over half a dozen shrimp a pot. Nothing to brag about. They were huge though and I've never seen so much sea lice. Makes me wonder if the area got hammered last season so what is left has tons of food and is growing big. As others said though we had a great time as the weather was outstanding.
Not to hijack but I bought a couple of Donaldson pots this off season so we had a full 5 pot string. So far I'm not impressed. My last boat came with 3 pots, two rigids and one stackable. From my past experience I thought I'd noticed that the rigids fished better but from what I was reading on the forum I wasn't so sure. After this trip I'm worried we bought the wrong ones and should have gone with Steve's. My boat doesn't have alot of deck space so the stackables were appealing. But if they don't fish as well I'm gonna replace them. Anyone wanna buy 3 Donaldsons or have any advice on why they were consistently outfished by the 2 rigids? I'd bet the two rigids caught more than half the shrimp.
Nothing to brag about. They were huge though and I've never seen so much sea lice. Makes me wonder if the area got hammered last season so what is left has tons of food and is growing big. As others said though we had a great time as the weather was outstanding. Not to hijack but I bought a couple of Donaldson pots this off season so we had a full 5 pot string. So far I'm not impressed. My last boat came with 3 pots, two rigids and one stackable. From my past experience I thought I'd noticed that the rigids fished better but from what I was reading on the forum I wasn't so sure. After this trip I'm worried we bought the wrong ones and should have gone with Steve's. My boat doesn't have alot of deck space so the stackables were appealing. But if they don't fish as well I'm gonna replace them. Anyone wanna buy 3 Donaldsons or have any advice on why they were consistently outfished by the 2 rigids? I'd bet the two rigids caught more than half the shrimp.
Last year my square rigid pots outfished my round Ladner type. This last weekend, the Ladners pretty much outfished the square pots...so...go figure. The Donadlsons are the round Ladner type--correct?
Also, I tried one set in Eaglek last summer in June and came up **** near empty. Didn't go back after those poor results, at least not for shrimp. Sure is pretty back there, though, although I'm guessing the waterfall was sort of a trickle this time of year. It REALLY gets cranking later in the season.
Also, I tried one set in Eaglek last summer in June and came up **** near empty. Didn't go back after those poor results, at least not for shrimp. Sure is pretty back there, though, although I'm guessing the waterfall was sort of a trickle this time of year. It REALLY gets cranking later in the season.
patrickL
New member
Your right, the I should have said Ladner pots as they make them for Donaldson. Now that I've tried Eaglek I hear from folks that had similar experiences. Too bad I didn' t know this before I went there
. Thanks for the info on your fishing experience with the pots. I guess if I don't get any takers I'll just keep fishing them and see what happens.
spoiled one
Well-known member
Your right, the I should have said Ladner pots as they make them for Donaldson. Now that I've tried Eaglek I hear from folks that had similar experiences. Too bad I didn' t know this before I went there
Your not holding your tongue right, Patrick.:nyanya: Shrimp the bays with glaciers and steep and deep. Didn't we talk about this?
patrickL
New member
I'm sure we did but I think the Tequila you gave me erased that conversation from my memory. I think that's how you keep your secret spots secret. Its like that flasher they used in the movie "Men in Black". You told me all your secrets spots and techniques, then fed me tequila and flash, my memory is erased
.If you have some pots (pot types) that are consistently outfishing the other pots, do you have all of the pots on one line? And if you do, then do you always put them in the same order? For example, square pots are the ones closest to the end of the line, then the round ones furthest away? It may be where the pots are on the line that's making a difference.
For me, and I fish only the Ladner pots, it's almost always the one or two pots closest to the end of the line that get the most shrimp. I'm thinking MAYBE that with wind and current, the buoy pulls enough on the line to lift one or a few of the traps off the floor, away from where you'd expect to find the most shrimp. I've always suspected this, but really do not know. Something to maybe consider, though.
For me, and I fish only the Ladner pots, it's almost always the one or two pots closest to the end of the line that get the most shrimp. I'm thinking MAYBE that with wind and current, the buoy pulls enough on the line to lift one or a few of the traps off the floor, away from where you'd expect to find the most shrimp. I've always suspected this, but really do not know. Something to maybe consider, though.
spoiled one
Well-known member
I'm sure we did but I think the Tequila you gave me erased that conversation from my memory. I think that's how you keep your secret spots secret. Its like that flasher they used in the movie "Men in Black". You told me all your secrets spots and techniques, then fed me tequila and flash, my memory is erased
I don't recall...
patrickL
New member
Its a fair point. I had two rigid pots on one line with one of the ladners. This is my old setup from previous years. This trip the ladner was closest to the buoy. However, I also had the 2 new ladners on a separate buoy. They weren't fished right next to the other string but pretty close and at a similar depth. Maybe I'm just reading too much into this. Last year we were averaging around 80-125 tails per 3 pot string. I was just really disappointed that this time I was using 5 pots on two strings and caught very few shrimp. The two rigids outfished the 3 ladners catching nearly twice as many shrimp overall. Of course this is a single trip so maybe I'm just letting the frustration of getting 80 shrimp over 3 pulls cloud my view.
I've seen a signifigant difference in catches set to set in the same general area just by the current moving the string into a different position from a previous set.
I've also pulled two weighted pots from a 600' set by hand, and only gotten 12 shrimp for my effort, I was even foolish enough to repeat the feat, in a different spot, with exactly the same results.
When I followed the steep, deep and 600 feet advice, my results were greatly improved.
I've also pulled two weighted pots from a 600' set by hand, and only gotten 12 shrimp for my effort, I was even foolish enough to repeat the feat, in a different spot, with exactly the same results.
When I followed the steep, deep and 600 feet advice, my results were greatly improved.
This sounds like a real good average to me--I have yet to have such a successful pull. Of course, I only get in about two trips per summer over the last three years, so don't get to experiment/prospect much either.
I hear ya, but as soon as you start having expectations when it comes to fishing, well.....
