When Do Shrimp Run in Florida? Complete Guide to Catching These Tasty Crustaceans

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By Doug Sease When most of us think about fishing, we think about rods, reels, hooks, line and sinkers. But if you really want to get serious about capturing dinner—and having fun—add nets, spears, tongs and traps to the list of fisheries weapons. You can use that arsenal to do anything from lazy crabbing to physically taxing spearfishing.

Like so many other anglers, I spent years sitting in boats, on fishing piers, or beaches wetting a line, hoping that something tasty would swim by, notice my bait and take a bite. I got my share of fish that way, but there was something a little passive about it. Once I learned to throw a cast net, though, I began to get more deeply involved in my fishing. Cast nets are mostly used for two things: catching bait and shrimping in Florida. Now that I live in Vero Beach I use my cast net mostly for catching bait. If all goes according to plan, the bait I catch in my net in turn produces dinner via the old rod and reel method.

But when I was living in Jacksonville some years ago, I used the cast net to go shrimping in Florida during late summer in the St. Johns River.

You can catch shrimp from a dock or from shore, but using a boat gives you more versatility in where you fish. The idea is to set some baits—cat food with a fish base is good—on a shallow bottom to attract the shrimp into easily netted clusters. A light source, such as a propane lantern, is a useful attractant and also shows the shrimps’ glittering eyes, letting you know when the run is starting. Then it’s a simple matter of tossing your net over the baited bottom and hauling in your catch.

Be sure you know the limits, which change from time to time, so that you don’t get in trouble with the fishing authorities. Your local tackle shop will almost certainly have brochures furnished by the state that give limits and sizes of all sorts of catchable marine creatures. Alternatively, you can go to myfwc.com on the web for a full listing of regulations governing both salt water and freshwater fishing.

Now I know I said its “simple,” but it’s simple only after you’ve learned to throw your net, which isn’t always that simple. You can find various techniques for throwing cast nets on the web. I use a net made by Calusa and their video on learning to throw a cast net on their website is very good. It’s the technique I use.

If you don’t want to learn to throw a cast net, there’s an alternative. Simply take your boat out into the current, anchor and put a spotlight or lantern on the bow. Then just sit there, keeping a careful watch for the glitter of shrimps’ eyes as they wash downstream in the current. A quick scoop with a dip net and you snag ‘em.

To try different types of fishing in Florida — say, crabbing or shrimping — youll need a different arsenal. – Douglas R. Sease, for VISIT FLORIDA

The next step in my evolution as an amateur waterman was crabbing in Florida. I love crabs, but for a long time I was confined to buying them at the fish market. I’d occasionally haul up a big blue that was determined to have my fishing bait for lunch, but one crab does not a meal make.

My first efforts at actually catching enough crabs to make a dinner started out the old-fashioned way: a chicken neck, a string and a dip net. The key is to find a little saltwater stream surrounded by weeds. You toss over your chicken neck tied to the string, then sit and wait until you feel a little tug. Then you slowly retrieve the neck.

Usually the greedy crab won’t let go until he’s almost at the surface. The trick is in the timing. He has to be close enough to the surface that you can swoop your dip net under him, but not so close that he gets nervous and abandons his free lunch before you can strike. Kids, by the way, love crabbing in Florida.

That kind of old-fashioned crabbing can be fun occasionally, but if you want to get serious about crabs, you want to use traps, big wire cages with tapered openings. Put some bait in the cage—a big chunk of ladyfish or the proverbial chicken neck—set the cage out on the flats among the weeds and leave it alone for a day or so.

With two or three traps set out, you can sometimes get enough crabs in one run to make dinner. The key is to remember where you placed your traps (I tie a small piece of wood to each trap as a marker buoy and record the location of where I dropped it on my GPS).

There isn’t much that’s easier than crabbing with crab traps, but scalloping comes close. Florida’s Big Bend, from the Pasco/Hernando County line to the Mexico Beach Canal, offers a relatively short scalloping season from July 1 to September 10, the only area that I’m aware of that provides for “catch your own” scallops. Steinhatchee is perhaps best known for scalloping in this area.

Catching scallops is easy. Finding them, not so much. I recommend going with a guide the first time to learn where and how to look for scallops. After you’ve found them, it’s simple: use a mask, snorkel and fins to collect scallops right off the bottom and store in a mesh bag, available at any dive shop. Not only do you stay cool swimming the Gulf waters, you’re also likely to be in water only three or four feet deep, so you can stand up anytime and take a break. Like crabbing, scalloping in Florida is something kids love to do.

Florida Keys Shrimp Run! Shrimp Fried Rice! (Catch/Clean/Cook)

FAQ

What month is shrimp season in Florida?

Gulf Pink Shrimp

Pink shrimp are the most abundantly caught shrimp in Florida. They have two peak seasons: March to May and then October through December. Pink shrimp are most commonly caught in the southern waters of Florida, especially near the Keys, giving them the nickname of “Key West Pinks”.

Where is the best place to catch shrimp in Florida?

Do you need a license to catch shrimp in Florida?

What are the best months for shrimp?

Regulations Shrimp don’t reach eating size until mid-September, with October being the best month for big ones. A SC Saltwater license includes shrimping. There are two seasons, the first from May 1-Dec. 15 with a daily limit of 48 quarts of whole shrimp or 29 quarts of headed shrimp per boat. The second is from Dec.