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Grass Shrimp Photos

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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

Grass shrimp are not something you’d think would instigate a serious striped bass feed, or attract large weakfish, but indeed they do. (Photo Credit: John McMurray) Capt. John Mcmurray
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

A mix of grass shrimp and crabs looks diminutive in the hand. (Photo Credit: John McMurray) Capt. John Mcmurray
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

Giant weakfish scarf fly imitations each spring during bountiful hatches. (Photo Credit: John McMurray) Capt. John Mcmurray
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

Anglers fishing dark bottom exposed to sunlight capitalize on shrimp concentrations and stripers. (Photo Credit: John McMurray) Capt. John Mcmurray
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

Stripers stand out over the sand, making them easy to spot when sight‑fishing along the flats edges. (Photo Credit: John McMurray) Capt. John Mcmurray
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

Capt. David Blinken’s Jumpin’ Shrimp (top) and Little Brown flies are two top presentations for flats and estuary creeks. (Photo Credit: Zach Stovall) Zach Stovall
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

Foam poppers with feathers or bucktail are sometimes necessary to tempt striped bass during a shrimp swarm. (Photo Credit: John McMurray) Capt. John Mcmurray
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Gluttons for Grass Shrimp

While flies are generally better at matching the hatch, fly-fishing skills are not entirely necessary to fish grass-shrimp flies. You can toss flies with spin gear by tying a clear plastic float 3 to 4 feet above the fly. The float will give you the weight you need to cast, and your grass-shrimp imitation will remain suspended. Again, the trick is to fish this rig slowly and erratically. D.O.A. Shrimp are great baits here, particularly in those instances where you’ll want to match the hatch but need to go large to attract attention. The 2-inch version, while not that easy to cast, is as close to perfect as one could expect. The red-glitter and the avocado/red-glitter version are darn-good imitations. Changing up color to something brighter or even darker might draw strikes when matching the hatch isn’t cutting it. As far as popper choices, I really like the Guides Secret Baby Bottle Pop. It’s small but still heavy enough to cast long distances, and it makes a ton of noise. Keep in mind you might also try your own go-to crankbaits and soft plastics. Predators feeding on a ton of small bait sometimes just want to see something different. Zach Stovall
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