Shrimp in my minnow bucket

Printable View

03-22-2020, 07:45 PM
Tarheelwx

Shrimp in my minnow bucket

Had a great weekend fishing Norman this weekend. Easily the best in at least 10 years. Here’s something interesting that happened. When I got bait Friday evening, the store only had about 3 dozen left. When I got home, I saw 2 very small live shrimp in my bucket. In 50 years, that’s the first time that has happened. We ended up putting them on a hook and caught a bass on one. Has anyone ever heard of any of the minnow suppliers also selling freshwater shrimp? If so, are they raising them for acquariums, the table, or for bait?
thanks,
TW
03-23-2020, 07:18 PM
SEA DANCER

Live freshwater shrimp are native to many waters in the south and central us. All fish eat them and they reproduce in great numbers, They hide in the grass to keep away from the fish. When I was a kid and didn't have money to buy bait I had to catch my own. I would use a small mesh net to catch shrimp in the shallow water to fish with, Great bait, The get into the breeding ponds and holding ponds and sometimes into the minnow bucket,
03-23-2020, 07:57 PM
JordanLimit

I read where Harris Lake had a large population of grass shrimp. With the killing of the vegetation, I bet the population of grass shrimp will go down. This may be part of the problem with crappie population on Harris.
03-23-2020, 08:07 PM
Tarheelwx

Thanks guys. I've bought well over 500 "buckets" of minnows, but this was a first.
TW
03-25-2020, 10:19 AM
SEA DANCER

Quote:

Originally Posted by JordanLimit

I read where Harris Lake had a large population of grass shrimp. With the killing of the vegetation, I bet the population of grass shrimp will go down. This may be part of the problem with crappie population on Harris.

I feel like it will hurt the Shellcracker population more than Crappie. Shellcracker live almost entirely on crustaceans and aquatic worms and insects. The grass shrimp are a big part of their diet.