Dipping Shrimp

One of the things that sold us on our house, besides the big room for Terry’s looms and the huge garage, was the 300 foot long private fishing pier on the Indian River, which is just 800 yards from our front door. The pier is lighted, has some nice benches and fishing stations, and even has a fish cleaning station.

The Indian River is part of the Intercoastal Waterway, and it and some mangrove flats separate us from the Canaveral National Seashore, which is a couple of miles across the water as the crow flies. And on the other side of that narrow strip of beautiful unspoiled beaches is the Atlantic Ocean. The Indian River is saltwater here, and we have seen manatee and dolphins many times when we’ve been standing on the pier.

The folks who live here in our little community have been telling us how good the fishing and shrimping is from our private pier, and we’ve been anxious to try it out. So when a neighbor offered to loan me a couple of big long handled dip nets which are used for shrimping, I quickly took him up on the offer. We had never done that before but were hopeful of some success.

Here is Miss Terry, all ready for a new adventure.

A little after 8 PM last night we went down to the dock to try our luck. At first nothing happened and we didn’t see any shrimp at all, but the neighbor had told me we needed to time it just right and be ready for the incoming tide, and then we would have about a 45 minute to one hour long window for dipping.

Soon after we got to the dock a big pod of dolphins came by to see us, swimming just eight or ten feet away. How cool is that?

It took about half an hour before we saw the first shrimp, and I slipped my net into the water and came up from beneath and had him. Well that was easy!

Then I missed the next three or four. Well, maybe not so easy. There were a lot of sea trout and other fish out there feeding on the shrimp, and I learned that if I waited patiently they would chase the shrimp under the dock. Once I got the hang of that, it wasn’t too hard to snag them when they swam back out. Did you know that when shrimp are being chased by a predator, or a net, they jump and skip along the top of the water almost like when you skip a stone across a pond?

And sure enough, the neighbor was right. In an hour or so, between the two of us, Terry and I managed to get twelve shrimp. And then the run was over and we didn’t see any more. A dozen shrimp isn’t a lot, but we were pretty excited for our first time out.

The excitement continued when we got home and poured the bucket of shrimp into our kitchen sink. They didn’t like that at all and started jumping all over the place! A couple of rogues managed to jump clear out of the sink and onto the floor, and we had to catch them a second time.

But it was worth it all, because guess who is having shrimp and grits for breakfast? Did I mention I love it here?

It’s Thursday, and you know what that means. It’s time to kick off a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is a set of three books by Master Certified RV service technician Dale Lee Sumner that are excellent introductions to RV 12 volt electrical systems, 120 volt RV electrical systems, and RV appliances. While these books won’t make you a qualified RV tech, they will show you the basics of how your rig’s systems operate, how to get the most out of them, and give you some basic maintenance tips. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Thought For The Day – Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

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