Daytime Shrimping
If you prefer to keep banker's hours, then daytime shrimping is for you. During the day shrimp concentrate in the deep river channels in nearly 20 feet of water. Often the schools can be spotted with a good quality fish finder. Alternatively, you can look for a gathering of boats whose occupants are crazy enough to repeatedly throw cast nets in the heat of the day! Often you can see this fleet at work as you cross the Highway 17 bridge in Palataka.
The secret to catching daytime shrimp, after you have located them, is to have modified your cast net so that it opens fully while sinking to depths of 20 feet. This means two modifications: (1) extending the length of the retrieval line so the net will reach bottom without being pulled closed and (2) applying duct tape or lawn furniture webbing to the net, just inside the lead line, to cause it to fan open as it sinks. Once you have done this and have located the shrimping fleet, drift along the edge of the river channel in about 20 feet of water while watching your fish finder and periodically making test casts.
