Small Boat Big Shrimp!

The waters of South Baldwin County opened to shrimping on Friday the 10th of July and we heard reports of good shrimp in Perdido Bay.  I purchased a recreational license Friday night and planned a trip for Saturday morning.  My father George and friend Joe would join me to try our luck.  The trip started when we left my house at 5 am and we were putting our net in the water around 6:45 am near Pirate's Cove.

Pirates Cove near Perdido Bay

 The first pull lasted about 45 minutes and we sorted out around 15 lbs of shrimp.  We made a total of 6 different drags or pulls with the net and finished the day off with our limit of 75 lbs of nice shrimp.

Shelby holding some nice shrimp

 We had a great time the rest of the evening with a shrimp boil and the 3 family's each put several quarts of fresh shrimp in the freezers to enjoy later.  Shrimping is a lot of work and you really feel it in your back the next day after pulling in the net each drag.

Joe (Red) Shelby (White) picking out shrimp.

 The bays of south Baldwin County are full of life and it's a real treat to see all the dolphins surround the boat when pulling up the net.  The dolphin cruise boats followed us several times and the paying guests on board those vessels kept cheering for the dolphins and all the seagulls flocking to our boat.
  

George (Dad) at the wheel.

 If you have never been shrimping I think it would be a great experience for you to try.  I would say it would be a good idea to go with someone who is experienced for your first trip.  If you own a boat then you can get yourself to shrimping with very little expense.  Used nets are usually easy to find on Craigslist for $200 and from there all you really need is a sorting box and a $16 license.  Your family would enjoy the time together in the boat and it's great to be able to pull a nice bag of shrimp from the freezer.

You Tube Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGOXctNUl70

Joe, Sara, Bobbie, George, and Jennie all deheading shrimp.

Shrimp Boil!

Questions or Comments
alakingfish@gmail.com
Shelby Byrd

Fishing on the Fourth

We hit a milestone today on the blog, the two year anniversary for starting the site.  It was a wet Independence Day two years ago and I decided to kick this site off.  I had no idea what I was doing and have learned a little along the way.  Thanks to all the followers over the last two years and hopefully we will have many more adventures with family and friends to share.  Also keep in mind if any of you have a story of a hunting or fishing trip that you would like to share just write it up and send it to me.  

 Today we left the house around 7 am for a day in the boat on the back bays of Orange Beach in South Baldwin County Alabama.  When we arrived at the boat launch it was a packed house.  I had to pull over the curb to make a parking spot.  We put in at the public launch behind Pirates Cove in Josephine.  After cruising by the favorite hangout and marina we cruised around and looked for some fish.  We really didn't see any action in Perdido Bay so we headed around to Wolf Bay and did a little wading.  Jennie had one of her first encounters with a nice size jelly fish.  Dad and I fished on and finally found the fish in about 5' of water.  We had several good casts, catching 8-10 fish at a time. 

 We caught more fish than we wanted to clean (30-40) in a short amount of time and decided to pull the tube and cool off a little.  

Emily is getting old enough now to enjoy the boat and tubing.  She really had a great time and didn't want to stop after getting started.  

We finished the trip at the Orange Beach Bay Front Park and fixed some great sandwiches.  For some reason food always tastes better on the water.   Mom (Bobbie) brought some fresh tomatoes from their garden and they were great on the turkey and ham sandwiches.

Later in the day found us grilling steaks around the pool at Jennie's mom's place with her Grandmother and Uncle Gary there as well.  It was a great time with family.  Then we caught the fireworks in Bay Minette and enjoyed the show very much.  What a great country and state we live in, I just wish we could take it back from the politicians that represent themselves and a small minority not the American working class citizens.  

Question or Comments 

alakingfish@gmail.com

Shelby Byrd