CAPTCAMELTOE said:
those are the sort of boat pics I'd like to see more of. I want to set a boat up to shrimp as a one man rig. I say commercial, but would expect a 50-200 lb day to be more then enough to help supplement my income. I am under the impression the smaller boats go out at night when the shrimp are near the surface feedin?
Not necessarily most lakes are Real shallow with lots of places to bottom out your boat (mud flats) so going at night, you got to be real careful. The bayous are not clearly marked so it's hard to tell where the bayou (10' deep) ends and the mud flat begins (6" deep). Most lakes are so shallow (3'-6') it doesn't matter day are night your trawl is going to open up enough to get them both ( on top or in the mud). For the most part.
I'd pull a 25' bottom trawl behind a 14x42 flat w/ 50 Merc. I had my own lawn care service so I could head to the Boat launch around 3pm and be back at the house by 7pm (still daylight) heating up the boiling pot and hosing down the boat and net. I wouldn't go at night except maybe on a full moon occasionally. The risk of tearing up the net etc. was usually the determining factor.
The boat in the pic has whats called 'skimmers'. He may pull a bottom trawl as well, hard to tell. That boat could easily catch 100-200#'s an hour. So after you fill the freezer there's plenty to sell. Rigs like that are a common site in SE la. You see them all over the place. He prob has at least 2 electric winches for lowering and raising the 2 skimmers and prob for pulling his balls(tails). Which makes it real easy to run by yourself. Hit a switch and your ball is hanging at face height, swing it over a picking box and untie the ball. That's it. Now with a bottom trawl it's harder because you have heavy boards (doors) to deal with. So most guys myself included will just tie a small line about 5' above the tail and only bring in the boards at the end of the day. You just pull the tail over the side of the boat, dump it and throw it back over. Which can be tiresome but it's not bad considering the payoff.
Here's some pics and videos..
This guy is pulling a bottom trawl. No winches in a smallish flat. (non tin
)
[youtube]esg1dm2eBTc[/youtube]
[youtube]OA5xxLz_U1s[/youtube]
This is a perfect example of just pulling in the tail and leaving the boards on the side. Now their catch sux. I would move or pull longer.. But good example..
[youtube]3k6KIZYEa1U[/youtube]
These guys are using a bigger boat but the same setup is often used on flat boats.
Notice the nets on the side of the bayou that they use when the current is ripping out (falling tide). Down in houma you see these all over the place. (conditions have to be right but you burn 0 gas.) Notice also how many crabs they caught in 1 drag as an added bonus.
[youtube]pJ5odNStVSU&NR[/youtube]
Misc. pics