Thread: Grass Shrimp

Only time I've seen fish feeding on the grass shrimp is late spring/early summer.

I would like to put my two cents in. I would like to caution the newer fellows when collecting grass shrimp. If you are collecting in hydrilla be CAREFUL when you dump the contents out and start sorting. I have run into snakes, and small catfish, been stung by the small catfish that i couldn't see and swore that i had been snake bit. Them little fellers can sure make you hurt. Found turtles and all sorts of guppies, killifish and such

Luther

Luther, that's why we used a floatie outside the boat. I don't bring anything in the boat that hasn't been identified first. A ball pushed into the screen and then sewn was how we made ours, gave just enough depression.

Originally Posted by Jacob

not too long ago (2-3 weeks back) I got word that the cappie had moved out of Lake Harney into the Puzzle Lake area. On a spur I shot out to the east side of SR46 and set-up under the bridge. The fish were BOILING the water; 5-8 spots were popping at once. I tried everything in my arsenal trying to get a bite but had no luck. I noticed that they were hitting the small grass shrimp and even managed to catch a couple. Those things were no bigger then 2cm but they were everywhere. They were also congregated at the surface.

I'll keep this one in mind for the future. Might be worth while to learn to throw a fly rod for this one.

I see fish feeding on blind mosquitios alot and think the same thing. It's been several years since I used a fly rod but I'm going to give it a shot this week once it warms up. They were going ballistic last week in the evenings and I struggled to catch a few fish on minnows.

The fish boiling in the st johns between harney and puzzle are feeding on the huge mosquito fish hatch. (mosquito fish = small wild minnows)
4 months ago the river was high up and into the pastures - the hatch is giant this year. Recommendation: use small baits. I took a simple white 1/16th oz. maribou, dipped it in the water, then cut the feather in half after the hook. The crappie and shad started killing it. Use baits no larger than 1.25 inches. Of course, always tip with a minnow :0)

That's a great tip...i've been using too big a jig. I used to fish that area a lot before I discovered productive waters closer to home. I always did pretty good around the mouth of the Econ.

what do you recommend when they're feeding on blind mosquitos? I'm seeing this on Lake Apopka and it's definitely blind mosquitos landing on the surface that they're eating.

Hey, guys, this is a great thread on a great subject. Nets: Skinnyhoops, thee pool skimmer net is way, way too flimsy. Try to find a net that has a hollow aluminum tubing forming the ring. Those are stronger than those which have a solid ferrous metal ring for the net. I've tried them all; hollow tubing is stronger. You'll need strength when dragging in a ball of hydrilla, milfoil, whatever. Walmarts in FL used to buy the hollow tubing types at the beginning of the tourist fishing season. Why, my goodness, they bought around 6 to start the season.....Those six usually lasted a couple of hours on the shelves, then no more replaced them. Just think, 6 whole nets for a season on Lake Okeechobee. Luckily, I got one at the start of a season....then several years later I happened to get one for a spare.....I have not seen them since. Anyway, the aluminum handle and ring were "corrugated" aluminum. Hope you can locate the best. Ray

Luther, great advice man. Definitly will be careful. Your right, those catfish can put a hurting on ya. If you think thats bad, a saltwater catfish sting is MUCH worse and will hurt for many days. That includes both saltwater species, Hardhead Catfish and the Gafftopsail Catfish.

Thanks for the info bryophyte. One thing I know about walmart is it's usually a goose chase trying to find an item, one store sells it and another store has a completely different line of products. lol
I might be able to find something online but will be hard to know if it's hollow aluminum without a detail description. May have to do a little digging around, good tips though.