The South Carolina Shrimp Baiting Season came in on Friday, September 8, at noon. Hunter Jordan, Richard Calhoun, and myself planned a trip to Georgetown on Friday night to try our luck. We met at the Ice House to grab ice and some drinks, hoping to fill the cooler with shrimp as quickly as we emptied the drinks. We loaded the boat at South Island Ferry and made our way South to McClellanville. The way was dark and thousands of stars were shining brightly. I drove the boat while Hunter and Richard mixed the bait in the bow. I carefully watched the trees and marsh grass which were darker in contrast to the water, helping me to keep the boat in the middle of the channel. Richard occasionally shined his Q Beam to make sure there weren’t any unlit channel markers in our path as we raced ahead for McClellanville.
We found Alligator Creek and turned towards the bay. We arrived at high tide and had no trouble with sandbars as we moved about the bay to select our position. The Northeastern wind was whipping across the bay and we had to plan our position carefully so that we would be casting the net with the wind. Casting a net into the wind is next to impossible because the wind will fold it shut before it hits the water. We could not see the water or the waves but we could feel the spray of the white caps. The sea spray was whipping across the boat as we idled along to where we wanted to be. Shrimping can be a game of a hundred yards when it comes to position. The flood lights shined on the bow and stern so that the boat’s deck was the only thing we could see in the whole bay. Hunter drove while I placed 5 of our 10 fiberglass poles in the sandy bottom. We made 40 bait balls by mixing fish meal with powdered clay and tossed a 2 bait balls beside each pole.
Richard explained that it is best to throw the bait about 8 to 10 feet in front of the pole. This way, a fully opened net can sink over the center of the bait instead of covering half the bait beside the pole. The poles are only in the water to mark the position of the bait.
We drifted away from the poles to pass time allowing the shrimp to smell the bait and start feasting. Finally, Richard asked, “Are ya’ll ready to catch some shrimp?” Hunter turned the boat towards the poles as Richard shined the spot light at the first pole. I threw the net and Hunter immediately reversed the engine. My first throw draped over the pole (a cast which would count for zero points in Brownie Campbell’s tournament) and we knew that a throw like this would catch no shrimp. It took several attempts throwing to calibrate my arms to make the net land next to the pole. The wind was blowing so strong that it carried the net farther than usual and we made longer range casts. I did not catch many shrimp on the first pass and made preparations for another pass by each pole.
Driving the boat was difficult for Hunter because the wind and currents were against us. After each throw, the boat is to back up and move to the next pole. In our case, the wind was pushing the boat towards the poles that we were working.
We seemed to be catching more shrimp on the right side so we placed the remaining 5 poles off the right side of our line.
I threw a cast which tangled as it landed and I thought it was a waste. We pulled in the net and I was surprised to have about 15 shrimp inside. I said, “An ugly cast with shrimp is better than a pretty cast with none.” Which was true until Hunter pointed out how many more shrimp I would have caught had the net opened.
After making several passes by the poles, my arms were getting tired and Richard took over the casting. His first throw caught more shrimp than any of mine and he said, “that’s what happens when you hit the bait!”
He made several more throws catching more shrimp when the boat went dark. The GPS, flood lights, radio, and spot light all went out and we couldn’t see a thing. The NorthEastern wind was still blowing sea spray off the waves and across the boat. I was afraid that our luck had run out because we couldn’t see the poles and started checking fuses with a flashlight. We could not find a bad fuse but Richard connected the Q beam directly to a battery so we could still use the spotlight.
With the spotlight working again, we were able to locate the poles and continue shrimping. Hunter stepped up on the bow and threw for several passes but still, the amount of shrimp per cast would not justify staying later in the night.
A limit of shrimp is measured at 48 quarts and we pulled the poles knowing that the limit will not be reached on this night.
We had to choose a route that would take us back to the intracoastal waterway which would be either Alligator or Casino Creek. Richard and I have run aground several times at the mouth of Alligator Creek and so we took Casino Creek because of the low tide.
The full moon was now shining bright over the marsh and Hunter drove the boat while I pinched the shrimp heads off.
I always had the impression that shrimp are abundant and that shrimpers fill the cooler every time they try. A lot has to do with the casts, but there is more that goes into selecting the position and placing bait than I thought. Hunter and I were thankful that Richard could join us for the night and show us the ropes. I saw a recipe for barbecued shrimp in The Dillon Herald recently and used it to grill the shrimp we caught on this trip.