Fall is "Shrimp Time"!

Fall means a lot of things to folks like me.  Not only is there the usual pumpkins, Halloween, bonfires and multicolored leaves, there are shrimp!  Shrimp that are free for the taking!  All you need is a pier or boat, a net and a couple of strong arms.  Mark and I noticed that the shrimp had made their way up the Bay to the Bayou a few days ago.  We were on the pier trying to catch bait for fishing when he caught the first ones.  This was not a big haul but enough for a meal and anytime I can get a free meal, I am happy!  We threw the net a dozen or so times and caught a nice mess of the critters.  With the shrimp, the fish and crabs we caught, it was a fine day.  As I said, anytime that I can have a free meal, I am happy.  The Bay and Bayou provides us with all sorts of free meals.  Each are there for our enjoyment.  The shrimp, fish and crabs all give us a ready source of protein.

I can remember back when I was a kid, I would often go "shrimping" with Pop.  He would always go out in the boat to throw his net.  He said that the mud around the Bayou made for a big mess!  The mud around our pier does, indeed, make a mess if you are not careful.  Pop and I would sit out there and fish until the sun started to set.  Once it was below the pine trees, Pop would "bait up". This involved throwing handfuls of chicken feed into the water. Yep..chicken feed!   He always said it was the best shrimp bait available.  There are those folks who swear by cat food or even dog food but Pop insisted on chicken feed. The "Laying Mash" is a feed developed to provide laying hens the needed protein to stay healthy.  Why Pop even thought of feeding it to shrimp is beyond me! When we noticed the shrimp at the pier, Mark immediately went down to by some Laying Mash. Since he did not go to a Feed and Seed Store, he bought Rabbit Food.  We have used it in the past and I suppose it works as well.  Still I wonder to this day, if we even need to "feed" shrimp.  And..do shrimp really prefer one type food over the other? Do they even eat the stuff?  Are our efforts in vain?  I know that Pop caught a bunch of shrimp each time he went.  So we follow his lead and bait up the area with chicken feed (or rabbit feed).  We wait and then toss that net out over the water.  Our free food comes in with each haul.

Today, my sister called me.  She and her husband were out fishing and they discovered that the "shrimp were in".  This is a big deal to most folks that live around here.  Word spreads quickly and in a short time, the Bay will be dotted with lights at night as folks throw their nets.  Me?  I discovered a secret!  Those shrimp are out there during the daytime as well as at night.  I catch mine during the bright light of day so I do not have to be down on the pier in the pitch black of night.  Not that I mind the darkness but you just never know what you might haul in with that net. There is nothing worse than pulling in a couple of stingrays after it gets dark.  Those things can tangle in a net and cause major problems! Yep, I will stick with shrimping during the day...and eating my shrimp in the evening while everyone else is out working for their free meal!