Postponed - 05/14 - 05/17 - 2020 Friday Harbor CBGT

[smckean (Tosca)]

I must be optimistic. I spent a goodly chunk of yesterday mixing, portioning, and freezing 10 pounds of shrimp bait (a nasty, stinky business). The tides are real good around the FH-CBGT weekend!

[Gene Morris]

smckean;

Unless things get much worse we will be up there for a cruise even if the fh gathering is called off. I'm very interested in prawn fishing. Would you share your recipe for bait? I'd like to make some and be prepared.

Gene

[smckean (Tosca)]

Gene,

There is a lot of debate among shrimpers surrounding bait. There seems to be a few constants too -- for example, everyone seems to believe in the use of cat food. Oils seems to be universally favored. Personally, I am in the camp that believes that if I pull up a pot after a couple of hours, and it still has bait in it, the bait needs to be finer. My camp believes you want the bait to flow out into the water so the shrimp "follow" it to the trap; others believe that you want bait in the trap to keep the shrimp there.

I'm not sure you want to go thru all this bother just for a few sets. Much easier to just throw in some cat food and maybe mackerel and/or chicken. But anyway here's what I do. I make bait from fish pellets (finely ground), cat food, canned mackerel, and olive oil. I grind the pellets in an old Cuisinart; then mix in the rest with a big paint stirrer on the end of an electric drill. This makes a kind of goo. I make 1/2 cup "balls" and vacuum pack those in packets of 2 before freezing. I've also heard that fish based fertilizer is a good substitute for the somewhat expensive fish pellets, but I've never tried it.

I've tried different proportions, but lately I've been using:

makes ~48 x 1/2 cup balls
--------------------------------
- 12 cups bait pellets (4 lbs 4oz)
- 3 cups olive oil
- 5 x 13 oz can Frikies
- 4 x 16 oz can Mackerel

[Salmon Fisher]

Good recipe Sandy.

I don't use any oil, though.
I save all the salmon eggs from what I catch and then I process them through my grinder and mix with the rest of the ingredients.

I agree that your bait containers, which I use the round mesh, should come up empty after 1 hour with only the larger chunks left behind.

I only drop pots when current is 1 mph or less. I consistently do well when doing this. When I've been impatient and dropped above that number, very low or no shrimp.

Use lots of weight in areas with current. I add 25 pounds to my square, rigid pots. Works well for us.

[smckean (Tosca)]

Patrick,

Yum....I'd use salmon eggs instead of the olive oil in a heart beat if I had the eggs. Salmon eggs would add the oil plus have the fishy smell.

I have used "fish juice" (Pesky....or whatever that pink/red stuff is called) instead of olive oil, but it's hard to get the smell off your hands or whatever else when you use that stuff. I use the olive oil because someone convinced me that oil is prized by shrimp (any oil I am assuming). And another reason is that the resulting goop is a lot easier to work with when I add the oil.

I've had the same experience with current as you describe (not to mention lost pots if I get too cute with ignoring current). I find that bottom structure and makeup seems to be important too.

[Salmon Fisher]

On that pink colored shrimp oil, I agree.
-Expensive and messy.

If a person deep fries food, maybe the used oil could be used, too.

[smckean (Tosca)]

Patrick,

F***ing brilliant! I've gotten so many good ideas from you......this is just another one!

We deep fry food from time to time.....indeed, just 2 nights ago we deep fried fish and chips using a chunk of ling cod I caught last summer. I never know what to do with the used oil. We try to save it and re-use it by filtering and freezing, but that doesn't work all that well. Now finally, I have a use for that otherwise wasted oil!!

P.S. On current.....a couple of years ago I was thinking about the effect of currents on shrimp catch rate. It dawned on me.....why would a shrimp, who typically hunkers down in crevices and under overhangs, leave his neighborhood to follow a scent trail? Those guys are quick swimmers, but I would think swimming "up stream" any distance would not pass the "effort vs reward" test that fishy animals are so good at calculating. Of course, I know, I says to myself.....they wait until the current is slack or near slack. Anyway, such has been my theory of late.

[hardee]

Soooooo.... Have you shrimpers decided who is going to do the Shrimping University at FH-CBGT, and When ... yet?

Sounds like any of you could do it.

Harvey
SleepyC

[localboy]

I use canned mackerel (Asian food stores) ground up in a meat grinder, commercial pellets soaked in oil scent and mixed in a blender and canned Friskey's white fish cat food, right from the can. I've used Friskey's ocean dry cat food as a bonding agent (think bread crumbs in meatloaf) but I'm gonna try corn meal this year. It's smaller than the cat food so it will be carried by the currents and create a better scent trail...I think. Mix it up to a meatloaf consistency and voila. Some years I've frozen some in solo cups if we are going to be out for a couple of days. Plopping a frozen blob into the bait cup can be cleaner & easier than shoveling the mix in. Latex gloves are a must.

[Salmon Fisher]

Sandy and Mark, good idea on freezing the bait and then putting into the bait container. I've always shoveled/spooned it in before dropping. Can be a little messy and yes, latex gloves are a definite go-to. I need to use those little solo cups and freeze, then simply peel off the plastic and put in bait container.

The cornmeal is great, heard about that from a veteran shrimper.
If my mix is too thin, I use cheap corn meal to thicken it. I agree, Mark, that the little swollen particles of corn meal do disperse the scent effectively.

[localboy]

Yeah, Patrick...The Admiral just loves opening the garage freezer and seeing red solo cups filled with "it" all over the shelves...

It is cleaner and seems to last a bit longer as it has to defrost/melt to be effective.

[hardee]

Patrick said:

[Standas]

For the last 3 shrimps season I have used Johns sporting goods recipe. He has a great video on his website on how to put it all together.

[hardee]

Just heard that all Washington State Parks are going to be closed as of Monday. I have not seen or heard anything about the marine parks ... yet. Hummmm. If the parks are closed, the docks, and launch ramps might be too.

Anyone hear anything different on that yet?

Harvey
SleepyC

[Salmon Fisher]

Here's the latest from their update:

NOVEL CORONAVIRUS – COVID 19 UPDATES
March 22, 2020
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (Parks), Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the closure of all state campgrounds across Washington to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Campgrounds will remain closed through April 30.

The closure includes roofed accommodations like cabins, yurts and vacation houses.

No new campers will be allowed into Parks, WDFW or DNR lands beginning Monday, March 23. Current campers will be phased out following instructions from land officials.

Day-use areas and trails remain open. Due to the volume of people visiting Washington’s ocean beaches, we are asking the public to avoid those areas. People should continue to practice social distancing when recreating outdoors.