who trawl for shrimp?

[haoward]

Who trawl for shrimp with a smaller boat?
Planing on doing it this season any idea what is needed and what size net?

[wetaline]

I used to trawl out of Rockefeller with my dad every year. Had a flat bottom and we just trawled parallel to the shore. Don't remember the size of the net. Had wooden boards. Hauled it in by hand and dumped it into a cleaning box situated over the middle of the boat with the ends hanging over the edges of the boat. Once the haul was all in the box, we'd start culling the haul. Once the shrimp and crabs were in the ice chest, we'd open the gates on the ends of the box and push out anything we didn't want and use a bucket to wash out the box. Had some good times. Good eating too!!

[SteelD]

Originally Posted by wetaline

I used to trawl out of Rockefeller with my dad every year. Had a flat bottom and we just trawled parallel to the shore. Don't remember the size of the net. Had wooden boards. Hauled it in by hand and dumped it into a cleaning box situated over the middle of the boat with the ends hanging over the edges of the boat. Once the haul was all in the box, we'd start culling the haul. Once the shrimp and crabs were in the ice chest, we'd open the gates on the ends of the box and push out anything we didn't want and use a bucket to wash out the box. Had some good times. Good eating too!!

I remember those days with my dad VERY well too!!! What I wouldn't give to be able to do that with him again!!!


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[bluewing]

Go to touchards in Delcambre, they'll hook u up

[keakar]

go with the 25' net its the biggest you can use under a recreational trawling license and its about all you can handle without being very hard work and needing a big boat. you don't want a commercial license unless you think you are going to be selling shrimp.

if you have a flat boat maybe a 20' net but under 25' what you catch drops off dramatically.

think of it this way, 50% of the trawl size is the wings that don't catch anything for you so you have a 25' trawl your catching shrimp with about 13'-14' of that net. if you drop to a 20' net you have 10' catching something, 16' you drop to 8' catching.

16' is considered a test trawl for bigger boats pulling 35' and up trawls

I used to trawl with a 16' net that caught very well and averaged around 5 lbs shrimp in a half hour drag while people pulling 25' trawls nearby were catching an average of 10-12 lbs in a half hour.

if you want shrimp get the 25' net, if you just want it for live bait plus a few pounds of shrimp then get something smaller like a 16'

[haoward]

Thanks for the input, thinking about going with a 16' don't need nothing too big. Seem like it would b too much work with a 25' net

[AceArcher]

good luck on the trawling... very interested in knowing how it works for you...

do be careful where you do it at.. I know in the regs it says you can not trawl in rockefeller any more..

[swamp snorkler]

Originally Posted by keakar

go with the 25' net its the biggest you can use under a recreational trawling license and its about all you can handle without being very hard work and needing a big boat. you don't want a commercial license unless you think you are going to be selling shrimp.

if you have a flat boat maybe a 20' net but under 25' what you catch drops off dramatically.

think of it this way, 50% of the trawl size is the wings that don't catch anything for you so you have a 25' trawl your catching shrimp with about 13'-14' of that net. if you drop to a 20' net you have 10' catching something, 16' you drop to 8' catching.

16' is considered a test trawl for bigger boats pulling 35' and up trawls

I used to trawl with a 16' net that caught very well and averaged around 5 lbs shrimp in a half hour drag while people pulling 25' trawls nearby were catching an average of 10-12 lbs in a half hour.

if you want shrimp get the 25' net, if you just want it for live bait plus a few pounds of shrimp then get something smaller like a 16'

Check into this info. I think it's 16' and under for a rec license and you can only have up to 100 lb shrimp........ I could be wrong though.



Haoward best advice I can give is to leave it to the pros. But I'll say this, when I don't have to work anymore I'm buying a trawl boat set up to skim........ I rather do that than fish, crawfish, crab, or hunt.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

Check into this info. I think it's 16' and under for a rec license and you can only have up to 100 lb shrimp........ I could be wrong though.

it used to be but they changed it to 25' and raised the prices on commercials plus a lot more regulation.

maybe they change it since the last time I looked so I checked:

from DWLF

recreational trawls up to 16ft the license is $25
recreational trawls 16ft to 25ft the license is $80

and the limitations are:

.

Trawling During Open Season

and Possession Limits

.

During the open shrimping seasons trawls

25 feet and less are allowed for recreational

purposes.

Recreational shrimpers using trawls 16 feet

in length or less are limited to 100 pounds

(heads on) of shrimp per boat per day.

Recreational shrimpers using trawls between

16 and 25 feet in length are limited to no

more than 250 pounds of (heads-on) shrimp

per day per boat per day, if the shrimp taken

are used for bait or the fisherman’s own

consumption and are not sold, traded or otherwise

permitted to enter commerce.

[swamp snorkler]

So basically they added a division 16' up to 25' increased the creel limit and price. That's a fair trade.

[haoward]

So if I use the 16ft one which one do I pay for?

[keakar]

Originally Posted by haoward

So if I use the 16ft one which one do I pay for?

16 is $25 and means 16ft and and no more then 2-3 inches of that

16 and over means if its 16 1/2 ft (16ft plus 4-6 inches longer)

double check your trawl to be safe but in most cases they wont be too strict if you are a few inches over because they understand manufacturing may have minor differences but im talking 2-3" not 6"

some trawls are cut down larger ones that may have had an issue so if a 25ft trawl had webbing defects on the end they sometimes trim it down and make a 20ft out of it so sometimes they don't even know.

be safe and measure it yourself because you are held responsible to know what you have. the width is measured at the lead line (or bottom line) from net edge to net edge. I don't recall ever having a trawl that measured exactly what it was listed as.

when you make connections to the boards you need to do it the same each time so it fishes the same each time. an inch or two can make a big difference. I like to use shackles or brass snap clips so the boards can be disconnected easily for storage and it sometimes is a life saver to get the net off logs or other trash.

there is a lot more to it that depends where and how you trawl like rope length, lead line weight, how many lead line rollers and if you use them, how many extra corks you use on the float line.

I add more corks between all the corks the trawl comes with (usually one every 16-18") because it helps keep shrimp and crabs from swimming out the dips in the net as you are bringing the trawl in.

the boards you use should be at least 18"x30" for a 16ft trawl and aluminum boards are worth every penny you spend on em. don't try to make your own boards as the rigging of the chains is where most home built boards fail to fish right.

learn to stitch webbing and keep a trawl sewing needle and coated nylon twine with you at all times because you will tear the trawl a lot, its the nature of the craft.

lastly you need to "tune" the trawl by adjusting the lead lines and float lines so the boards pull hard, flat, and true, judged by how it gets dirtied or scoured by the bottom so go with an experienced trawler the first time so he can get it set up right to fish well.

if you do everything right, with a 16ft trawl you will catch enough shrimp to break even on the gas you spend. that's why I strongly recommend you get a 25ft instead. the only real difference is the boards are about 15lbs heavier and are 24"x36" size.

if you don't get the 25' I think you will give up on it because you just don't catch enough shrimp to make it worth it. most of the time you are going to be catching 2-3 lbs of shrimp per drag vs 8-10lbs with a 25ft so unless you get into the shrimp it will be cheaper to buy your shrimp with a 16ft net.

that's about all I can add from my experience except to say attach the rops at about a foot or two from the middle of your boat and have tall posts the ropes wont go over sticking up at each back corner so when you turn it shortens the one rope and makes it a lot easier to turn without the trawl closing on you or not catching well until you straighten out. this trick can help you turn fast in tight quarters when needed.

[swamp snorkler]

Good Advice....... I remember trawling with my Pawpaw a long time ago. We dropped the net in first drag of the morning the sun ahdn't even come out yet. Daylight breaks and he looked at the net and said bring it in.... so we did. He adjusted the boards 2 or 3 chain links threw it back over and started trwaling again. When we got back to his house he called himy Uncle and chewed his butt out because he adjusted his trawl and didn't put it back like he likes it....... I don't even know how he knew the difference but he did.