LIP GRIPPER [ R I G G I N G] Shrimp Dip
HOW TO CATCH YOUR OWN SHRIMP COCKTAIL BY HOWARD McKIM
Shrimp is a prized delicacy, yet retail markets are flooded with farmed, hormone-riddled and overpriced product. Better to catch them yourself—no motor, no hydraulic pot puller, no matter. You can easily reap the rewards with just a basic rod and reel combo and some muscle power.
GET CATCHING BUOYS
Place a buoy between each pot so they can be reached, one at a time, as the pots are dropped. Bullet style crab pot buoys work best. Slide the snap swivel and line through the buoy and clip the swivel back on the line. Use bright colors; buoys are often difficult to spot in rough seas.
RIGGING
Starting with an empty spool, rig a 10-foot leader. Tie a barrel swivel onto the free end. Wind on your first pot line, with a snap swivel on the inside end and a barrel swivel on the terminal end. Repeat for each additional pot.
THE PROCESS
Bait the pots before you launch. The fewer tasks on the water, the better. As you drop the pots over the target area, set the rod on the deck and let the reel freespool as you use your paddle to stay in position, keeping the line vertical. When the pot hits bottom, pull the remaining line off the reel by hand, unclip the swivel and attach the buoy. Repeat for the remaining pots. Go home. Dream of giant shrimp.
For retrieval, simply unclip the buoys and reverse the process. Each section of line attaches to the previous. The challenge is reeling them up. Rest the rod between your foot and the rail of the kayak. With the weight on the kayak, start cranking. Empty your bounty into a five-gallon bucket.
22 … KAYAK ANGLER FALL/WINTER 2010
This system was devised for Alaskan giant spot prawns, but can be modified to fit the shrimp pot fisheries of the U.S. Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Check your local regulations, scout a few spots and get cranking.
SHRIMPING GEAR
POTS Three or four 30-inch round, netted pots stack nicely over the tank well of the average sit-on-top kayak. Don’t tie them down. Should they slide, they’ll become a dangerous sea anchor.
SWIVELS Quality swivels are the key to the system. Efficiently connecting your lines to each other, the buoys and the pots makes kayak shrimping feasible. Use large, heavy-duty barrel swivels on the terminal end of each line section. These connect easily to commercial corkscrew swivels permanently attached to the pots.
PHOTO: HOWARD MCKIM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52