Thread: fresh dead shrimp

where to buy fresh dead shrimp in gulf shores

Fresh Market Seafood is where we go. Just don't use frozen bait shrimp. Most seafood shops will have fresh shrimp.

+1 on fresh market or billy's seafood in Bon Secour. Maybe Blalock seafood but I haven't been by there in awhile.

Also: Many bait shops have fresh dead they pull out of their bait tanks or buy from the live bait dealer.

One rule to remember: if its not fresh enough to eat, its not fresh enough to fish with. Even IQF from a seafood market is better than 2 year old frozen "bait shrimp".

Thanks guys for the info

Hooked Up B&T in GS usually has 1# and 1/2# bags of fresh dead iced down.
J&M often has cups of fresh dead in the cooler before they freeze ;-)

"Fresh" dead bait shrimp and table shrimp from a lot of places is previously frozen. Fresh dead shrimp starts to break down and turn smelly quickly. The frozen that you buy in bait shops is usually dead ones pulled from bait tanks. If the shrimp you get is mushy, smelly or turning dark or orange then you essentially have catfish bait. If you buy live shrimp some will die and they are ok for pompano and whiting. There is nothing fresher than popping the head off a live one, peeling it and using small pieces. I know that isn't always feasable due to cost and space. Good luck, hope the water clears up soon.

I know everyone seems to talk down frozen shrimp but I've had good luck on it. Not with catfish, but jacks, whiting, small mangroves, and others (let me point out that at the pier, there's alot more catfish and rays than at the surf or the jetty so I would expect a lot more trash fish caught there than anywhere else). Having said that, I don't use it whole. I use small pieces. Doesn't stay on as well as fresh dead or live, but the only sting rays I've caught have been on live so it's no guarantee that you can avoid them with fresh dead vs frozen. But then again I use artificials more than bait so take this with a grain of salt.

I, too, have caught fish on frozen shrimp, but I think fresh dead increase my catch by as much as 25%. I wish I could get those odds over at the casinos.

If I can't get fresh, I won't quit fishing, but I'll look real hard before I'll get frozen.

Now them frozen squids, they's somthin' else agin---'specially if they's been thawed and froze agin. Talk about gitten yo'self some fine catfish-------- Leave 'em layin' on the rail for a hour or so befour you be puttin 'em on the hook.

From what I've learned in freshwater fishing, bait quality is more important when fish are in a negative feeding pattern. When they are biting well, it's more important to be there fishing whether you have live bait or frozen. I've seen times when fish were more finicky that fresh dead did indeed outfish frozen by a wide margin.