Pot pullers, either electric or those with a gas
engine, make quick work on hauling in heavy
pots full of shrimp and are a must.
Below, all of the needed ingredients for a good
shrimp bait. Bottom, good bait should be thick
and leach out to attract the shrimp.
ONE OF THE MOST REVERED delicatessen
dishes in the Pacific Northwest
are fresh spot shrimp, a sweet shrimp
with firm flesh that is often compared
to lobster in taste. They are easy to
catch and most fisheries have a daily
limit large enough to allow for several
meals. The shrimp also freeze well
to be enjoyed later. And yes, they
are often called spot prawns, but in
reality they are the largest shrimp of
the Pacific Ocean along the western
coast of the United States and Canada.
Biologically, shrimp and prawns
differ slightly but for commercial purposes
most companies use the term
“prawn” to mean larger shrimp.
Easily caught in pots or traps these
shrimp often have a short fishing
season with a day to day opener. This
is because they are very popular and
small areas can be fished out easily.
For instance, the Discovery Bay
Shrimp Area near Port Townsend on
the northern end of Puget Sound in
Washington state met it’s catch quota
in just two days of recreational fishing.
Other areas are open longer as
they might have favorable currents or
offer a larger area to fish. Most season’s
run in spring to early summer
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