Oak Hill Shrimping April 1972

Here's one more shrimping story - this one from 1972.

Shrimp Boats Not Coming - They’re Here!
By Bob Orrell
Herald Correspondent

The distant drone of an outboard motor was the only sound that could be heard as I walked up to the Riverwood Campground office to get a bag of ice for the shrimp we had caught during the night. I thought to myself, what a title for a story - The Silent Campground - for although it was mid-morning not one person could be seen among the many tents and trailers.

Only hours before, the river was a scene of busy activity as boats returned from a night on the water as the run of shrimp hit its peak in the Oak Hill area. At 1am the intracoastal waterway looked like a city with the hundreds of lights from boats of all sizes anchored in their favorite spots and the occupants waiting for the shrimp to pop up when the tide changed.

A few boats had been out since dark whiling away the time, chatting, eating or popping a few tops as the shrimpers waited for high tide. The more knowledgeable fishermen grabbed a few hours sleep at the camp then hit the river just at high tide.

Some shrimp straggled through on the incoming tide but as the water slowed to a stop, reversed its course and picked up speed, shrimp appeared under the lights in droves. Conversation halted with only an occasion exclamation heard as a shrimp eluded the dip net or an unusually big shrimp was spotted. My wife and good friend Harry dipped steadily, with only some good natured kidding as one or the other failed to net the shrimp they were after. The run soon became so heavy and arms so weary, we resorted to just holding the nets in the water moving them just enough to let the shrimp swim into the net.

Two hours of this and Harry said “don’t you think we better see how many we have? I’d hate to have to pay a fine for catching over the limit.” The catch is limited to five gallons per boat and the waterway is patrolled by the Florida Marine Patrol to see that the law is obeyed as well as for safety reasons. Carelessness on the water has resulted in at least three near fatal accidents this year in the shrimping area and the officers are trying to see that it doesn’t happen again.

Checking our catch for the night, we decided the limit had been reached so we pulled anchors and returned to camp for a little rest. After a leisurely breakfast we tackled the task of heading the five gallons of shrimp, bagging them and storing them in the campground’s freezer. Then back to bed for an afternoon nap to get ready for another night on the water.

A late afternoon dinner of golden brown fried shrimp, a salad and scads of black coffee, we were ready to hit the river again. Three enjoyable days of fishing and shrimping, marred only by one severe thunderstorm with wind, rain and hail, and we had enough shrimp to last for months.

Our timing was perfect, the run of shrimp was so good we dipped the five gallon limit every night for three nights and that is a lot of shrimp! It made up for the many nights when, after the long trip to the coast, the hours of preparation and the waiting, the shrimp failed to co-operate.

But, catch them or not, a night on the water, the sometimes funny conversations heard from other boats, and the excitement if they do run, is well worth all the time and trouble required.