Kayak Shrimping

This is going to be my next kayak endeavor. I caught a rockfish in 100 ft of water last year that was coughing up shrimp and it got me thinking, why not drop a trap at the beginning of my day? Nothing would round out a day of bottom-fishing like pulling up a trap full of shrimp.

However, I have no idea if there are many shrimp to be caught in the 100' range, or if they would be good to eat, etc.

What kind of trap would be good for kayak-shrimping? I'm thinking one of those inverted cone traps they use for crawfish. Any thoughts on this?

I know that htere are reports of guys shrimping off boats...those spotted prawns are TASTY...but i think that they're in deeper water?

A Coastsider posted a few months ago that he caught 68 shrimp and prawns in a few hours from the Fort Baker Pier at Sausalito. Not sure of the validity, but it sure got my blood pumping.

didn't the whole bay use to be a huge shrimp field years ago?
http://www.abcamp.com/Crabbing.html
(j) Shrimp trawls: Shrimp beam trawls may be used to take shrimp only in San Francisco Bay waters east of the Golden Gate Bridge , and in San Pablo Bay . The beam trawl frame from which the net is hung may not exceed 24 inches by 18 inches. The trawl may be towed by motorized vessels but may not be retrieved by mechanical devices. Any fish, other than shrimp, caught in the trawl must be returned immediately to the water.

Randall

I know a commercial guy who runs out of Moss Landing for shrimp. But he's dropping traps into like 800-1000FOW and pulling the pots w/a Aceline winch. You are correct that you'd want a cylindrical-shaped trap w/inverted cone entrances.
That said, I've caught lots of rockfish that couched up random shrimp as shallow as 80ft. So there is definitely potential to harvest some shrimp. But I'm not sure what type of shrimp those are...and make sure you're not in a SMCA haha.

To the best of my knowledge the shrimp that are caught in the bay are grass shrimp for bait,they are edible but small like cocktail shrimp,much easier to get at safeway,I have traps for spot prawns that I bought from a commercial fishermen that I opened  the funnels up on to use for crab but they are big traps(75-80lb) ea and were set to fish in 600-1000 ft deep for prawns.Your best bet would be out in 150+ water for coonstripe shrimp during the winter using crawdad traps with extra weight added so they don't drift and get lost.
good luck
Matt

We have a pretty good fishery up here in the Puget Sound for shrimp and a few members have had some good success. It's a very deep water game and expect to be dropping your pots in 250' of water or more. It does make things tough because you'll need a ton of line and lots of weight in your trap. Minimum weight around here is 10 pounds. A cheap way to get the job done is an old dumbbell from Goodwill. Also Purina/Friskies Ocean Whitefish and Tuna Dinner make great bait!

Z

Gear in the yak for one trap:


Spoils: