The Lowcountry Catch » Charleston Shrimping Updates

Isn’t Hurricane Season Over?

will — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:32:52 +0000

Well, someone forgot to tell Ida that. This late (after) season storm formed off of the east coast of Costa Rica, hit Nicaragua as a category one, skimmed between the Yucatan and Cuba as a category two, and is now taking aim at Pensacola, FL. From there, it is supposed to move off of the east coast as a tropical depression. There has been a large high pressure entrenched to the north of us, and the pressure differential between that and the remains of Ida are going to create some interesting marine conditions for us, and very possibly gale force winds from the North East. If you’re looking to buy some local oysters for the weekend, get your order in now! Good luck to the folks on the Florida panhandle!

Nice White Shrimp, and… Oysters!

will — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:05:57 +0000

F/V Cape Romain at sunrise.

I was down at the dock yesterday watching Chip unload the F/V Cape Romain and waiting on Jeff and Richie to get back to the dock. Both boats had about 400 lbs. of beautiful 16/20 count white shrimp. That’s not quite as plentiful as we’d like to see, but the shrimp are definitely out there. Boats have been dragging all over the area and reporting about the same catch. Everyone is hoping for a great month in October.

I have been getting a bunch of calls in the past few days asking when oyster season starts, and the answer is: tomorrow! We’re going to be out on the lease on Bull’s Bay tomorrow, and there’s some beautiful oysters there. If you want some of the first oysters of the season, give us a ring (843-568-6380).

East Winds Keep the Boats In

will — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:00:05 +0000

The past couple of weeks have been plagued by east winds. The white shrimp have shown up a bit, but with the wind, it hasn’t been worth it, and most of the boats have been tied up at the dock waiting for the wind to switch. The forecast for today is East at 10kt, so some of the boats may go out and see if there’s anything there. The switch to the South West is happening on Sunday, and the shrimping should really turn on then. I’ll keep you posted, because when it does, we’ll have plentiful huge white shrimp available.

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season. Again.

will — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:28:59 +0000

Well, the Atlantic hurricane season finally decided to put it in gear this week, and it did it quick. Right now, we have three named storms in the Atlantic: Ana, Bill, and Claudette. This is the first time since 1984 that the season has kicked off like this. Even though TS Claudette is making landfall right now, Hurricane Bill is stealing the show for the east coast. Right now, Bill is a category 2 hurricane, but is to quickly jump to a three and hold there. According to the current computer models, Bill isn’t a threat to our coast, but I, for one, will feel better once its passed. This being the 20 year mark since Hugo and all.

Even if it stays out to sea, the swells from Hurricane Bill will still have an impact on shrimping. The forecast is for 9 foot seas with a 13 second period Saturday and Sunday. That’s BIG for our coast. It’s safe to say that no one will be dragging. As for the longer term impact of the swell, who knows? Hopefully none, and hopefully the impact of the swell is all we’ll be worried about.

To stay up to the minute with hurricane forecasting and information, I use the following resources:

And for swell, I use the Navy’s FNMOC models (Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center)

Have any favorite hurricane tracking tools? Leave them in the comments below.

Huge White Shrimp Showing Up

will — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:17:57 +0000

Big white shrimp are on the way!

Jeff sent this photos in yesterday of some huge white shrimp they’re starting to catch. The shrimp are counting 10-15 in the rough (head on) right now, and that equates to 21-25 tails. By the way, other than the size, you can differentiate the white shrimp from the brown by the green at the tip of the tail. Only white shrimp have the green there. The numbers that are being caught aren’t up yet (that will change in a month or so), but let us know if you want to order some. Call Jeff on the back deck and see what he’s catching today (843-568-6380).

Race to the Dock

will — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:18:51 +0000

The race is on.

Jeff sent this photo to me yesterday afternoon of Capt. Gardner McClellan on the F/V Miss Georgia racing Jeff and Richie back to the dock to set the market price for the day. Both boats caught between 450 and 500 pounds of brown shrimp. The brown shrimp are running 26-30 (head on), and there are some white shrimp showing up in the 10-15 range. Jeff and Richie won the race to the dock, by the way.

They are doing dock work today and changing out the brown shrimp nets for the white shrimp nets in anticipation of the fall run. They want to drag them for a few weeks to get any kinks worked out before the shrimp show up.

Stormy Monday Off Cape Romain

will — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:06:44 +0000

Storm racing off of Cape Romain

Jeff sent this image from his mobile of a storm that was racing the F/V Miss Henrietta back to the dock yesterday. I’m not sure who won, but they had a good time racing it in.

Nice Brown Shrimp Being Caught

will — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:17:37 +0000

The F/V Miss Henrietta called in this morning and reported a catch of 70 lbs. of brown shrimp tails on their first drag. The tails are counting 31-35, which is a nice sized shrimp for this time of year. Although he didn’t say, I’m sure Jeff and Richie are very happy about heading the shrimp this week. Everyone is looking forward to the fall and the white shrimp run, but for now, the trawlers out of McClellanville are doing okay.

Brown Shrimp Catch Up, and a Few Whites

will — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:01:42 +0000

The brown shrimp catch was up for the McClellanville fleet last week. Some boats were reporting three and four basket drags. The price at the dock isn’t great, but its also not as bad as its been. There have also been a few white shrimp starting to show up, which, given that it’s still July, is a bit early. The captains are non-committal on what this might mean, but let’s hope it means a great fall white shrimp run!

Day Off for the McClellanville Fleet

will — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:02:52 +0000

Jeff called earlier today and said that the captains met at the dock this morning and decided not to go out. The winds were from the Southwest at about 20 and the seas are running 4-5 feet. The catch has still been way down for everyone, and all of the boats have been grinding out 15 hour days. With low numbers coming back to the dock, its just not worth the risk of everything that can go wrong out there.