Thread: Why no Bait?

Coming down next week from S. Carolina to GS to enjoy a week on the lagoon - my favorite place on earth...but worried to hear there is no bait available..what's up?
We have never been here in winter, so any general advice would be appreciated - staying on the eastern end, near town, but plan on daily trips to the serf and at least a day on the pier.
Long range calls for rain, but fingers crossed for at least a few decent days.

as it gets colder the bait will head offshore.

---And the shrimp will bury themselves up in the bottom.

will the shrimp come out if it warms up over the next week? forecast shows a warming trend over the next week or so....

Last week's cold spell and extremely rough water (we had a 2 day gale) just before the holiday weekend led to a temporary shortage of live shrimp.
That has been rectified this week for the most part.

NOTE: the bait shops still had live bull minnows and fiddler crabs and fresh frozen shrimp.
The shops on the Mobile Bay Causeway had live bait all week but were closed Thanksgiving Day.

There are plenty of ghost shrimp and some sand fleas on the beaches.
Every whiting I've caught recently (few that they were) had 2-4 ghost shrimp in its tummy.

I just made 2 ghost shrimp pumps last week, but have never tried to catch them. Can you catch them all year? More importantly, are they readily available in March/April when I come back? Also what are some techniques for finding them? Thanks

Beach Ghost Shrimp Callichirus islagrande are indeed available year round but MUCH more easily 'slurped' when the tide and waves are low.
Also EVERYTHING eats them so they are best used in the cool water months when there are fewer small and pesky fish around that would likely eat them up before a game fish comes along.
Fortunately for you March 2014 will (for the most part) have low tides in the morning daylight hours.
Monthly Tides in Great Point Clear, Mobile Bay, Alabama on Mar-2014

Some are present just about everywhere in the sand but they are easier to gather where they congregate along the shoreline in relatively calm water between sandbars.
Just look for signs like lines of 'shrimp poop'...


and look for the tell tale 'holes' and mounds in the sand...


Simply place the end of your pump over the 'turret mounds' ...


and as quickly as you can draw up as much sand as you can and spew it aside.
repeat several times until you see a shrimp.
It is a simple yet tedious operation, but in an hour of persistent mining you should be able to gather several dozen baits.

Hope this helps!

As always, your advice helps and is greatly appreciated!

Stupid question here, but, do you keep them alive? ---And if so, how? If not, what's the best way to keep them frest?

I keep them in the bottom of my minnow/shrimp bucket but keep the aerator stone off the bottom with a tiny panfish float tied to the end; it seems the agitation of the bubbles on the bottom is harder on the fragile ghosties and kills them faster. They will keep wrapped in black/white newspaper soaked in saltwater if you keep them cool-not directly on the ice inside the cooler. I would take a cardboard flat that beer or sodas used to come in and lay that on my ice as a barrier and the put my soaked newspaper in the flat. I've had them live a couple of days if you change out the newspaper and keep them cool.