Shrimp are running in the rivers and though smallish, now, their numbers and size will increase every day. By the middle of this month, along many of Florida's rivers, there will be so many shrimp the fish will have a natural "all you can eat" buffet and most other baits will not attract them. Therefore, if you are going to bring along a tackle box, leave the lures at home, pack it up with leaders, lines, hooks, and shot because shrimp is what is for dinner.
Taking advantage of this situation is to catch a couple of dozen of these crustaceans and present them as naturally as possible, such as free lined or under a Cajun cork rig.
"I don't use any weight, just a light bait hook, preferring those of the circle variety in angling for morality. The survival rate of a foul hooked fish is not good and using a circle hook lessens the chance of fouls or gut hook up, just quick, clean releases from the lip; that is the way I like it! "Hooking shrimp through the horn lets them swim naturally and they stay on the hook longer during a bite."
The "horn" is a jagged ridge that runs along the shrimp's head. Shrimp hooked in the tail or threaded through the bodywork well also but are not of a natural action and their presentation is radical at best but hey, sometimes that is what it takes to get on a bite so try it. That is why I have more than one rod with me when I go fishing each different for a variation in style or method that is called presentation.
Casting a shrimp on an unweighted hook is certainly the simplest approach. There are times when conditions will call for a little weight or jig head, and some anglers like to put a float on the line. It is all personal preference, but the more natural the presentation, the more likely a strike.
Remembering, your shrimp is competing with lots of others, so giving it a little something different just might be the ticket. My son, Edwin likes to place a piece of twisted aluminum foil about half an inch long above the hook giving it flashy pizzazz according to him, whatever floats your boat, I like the old fashion noise of a pop' in cork over 24 inches of forty pound fluorocarbon and a number one Eagle Claw circle hook.
Three times the flavor, three times the fun, sounds like a Wriggles gum commercial except we are Fishin with shrimp, during shrimp season and that means you too can catch and eat the shrimp. The best experiences in catching live shrimp for the grill are either with a dip net while wading the skinnies of the grass or the lazy mans way; find a bridge, jetty, outcropping or seawall placing a light out over the water and on a out going tide, wait. Upon either sight scoop up or cast out your net modified with duct tape or lawn chair webbing around the base of the skirt to make the net blossom out as it sinks.
Once you have your shrimp, use a live well or bait bucket to keep them lively. One trick is to put them on ice immediately, and their metabolism will slow way down, but stay alive. They perk up once back in the water.
With your shrimp in the well, look for docks, especially older docks, in locations where the tide is moving well. Drift your live shrimp, or shrimp and float, under the dock and hang on. If angling on the river, like our Myakka, remember during high tides on the upper reaches of the river around Snook Haven you can hook er up with bass and Florida channel cats, while on the falling tide trout, redfish, flounder, ladyfish, croaker and jacks become the prey of the day.
Due to the quirks of Florida law, you need a saltwater fishing license to take shrimp and a freshwater license to catch bass, so it is best to just purchase a combination license to be safe on all sides regardless if you posses fish or not. "FISH ON!"