[buddyclaude]

I can throw a 12 foot banana with the best of them. I share a bit of my experience with cast netting for shrimp on the Georgia coast. My parents lived on Colonel's Isle for many years. My uncle Allen Branch (11 years on the Southeast Atlantic fisheries council) and my father were habitual cast netters for shrimp in the salt marsh rivers inside of Ossabaw and Sapelo islands. Their net of choice was a 3 footer, maybe 3.5 foot nets. Cotton was their fabric. They liked to dip the nets in some kind of preservative that made the nets stiffer. Mono was not preferred. The process was to wait for the outgoing tide when the water would begin to recede out of the marsh grass. Then row the boat along the water's edge and net the shrimp as they migrated out of the marsh grass. You could fill a #3 washtub with shrimp in less than an hour. Depending on different factors the sizes would run from small to extra large.

The small net made for easy work to catch the shrimp congregated as they emerged from the Spartina. You could throw, dump and reload with ease. The joy of catching a dozen or more 12-16 count shrimp in every throw is a memory cherished by me.

Restrictions were placed when commercial men would use 12 foot nets and wait at "holes' in the marsh rivers to form and catch hundreds of pounds of the concentrated shrimp.

We would work around the clock, day and night to catch the low tides, catch shrimp, head and put up the catch in cartons for freezing. Get some rest and repeat.

 

[HungryJack]

I love to go shrimping, although, never done it with the cast net,
use scoop net or net rigged up on front of boat.
One of my must do's on the occasional trip to Florida.

Fished for them with mini rod/reel/line in several countries
and restaurants that had this option.
Actually quite a popular sport or activity in some Asian counties,
fishing for shrimp in pay ponds or tanks setup indoors,
has its own section for gear/lures in the tackle stores.

Shrimp heads are delicious deep fried.
Want to use smaller shrimp, like 25 count or smaller.
After you remove the head from the shrimp,
pull off antenna and snap the small point/horn.
Salt, pepper and fry as is, or can batter them, squeeze of lemon.
Also great snack to drink with beer.

Next time you are in a really good Japanese sushi restaurant,
and you order shrimp sushi, which is called Ama Ebi,
ask them to fry the heads for you.

 

[HungryJack]

I can throw a 12 foot banana with the best of them.

Easy to solve the banana issue.
The hand that is holding the lead line,
you are letting go of the lead line too early.
Focus to hold onto it, and let the net pull it out
of your fingers.

Even better technique is to hold on to the line
and give it slight tug before releasing.

Do the above, and bananas are no more.

 

[buddyclaude]

Do the above, and bananas are no more.

So true, as are all of your comments. I learned as a teenager to throw silver dollars every time. My bananas usually come after a long lay off and what you say is the forgotten remedy I impose on my technique.

You said it is about getting the quarry in the net, not the net size. Total agreement. The small 3 foot nets with a stiffening treatment made it easy to open the small net and also made it easier to dump the shrimp into the #3 washtub as the shrimp were less likely to stick in the netting. The shrimp would be right at the water's edge so a large net is not needed.

I learned how to grab hold of the blue crabs that made it into the tub. If the tub is half filled with water you merely stick your hand into the tub and feel for the crab, grab it and throw it out. They would not bite you if they were in the water filled tub. I almost was bit on the nose as I threw one overboard one fine fall night.

 

[buddyclaude]

My uncle Allen would use locally made nets with real horn for the horn. I have a cotton cast net my father hand made that hangs on my garage wall.

 

[HungryJack]

 

[remel1993]