How To Pump Ghost Shrimp! Best Bait Ever Fishgum- / fishgum Miracle Thread- amzn.to/3ow4rVy Buy fishgum and pompano rigs- www.beardedbradfishing.com How to make a ghost shrimp pump- • HOW to Make a GHOST SH...
We have a version of these here in Oz. In Queensland they're called yabbies and in the southern states they're usually called pink nippers to differentiate them from freshwater yabbies (a type of crayfish). They're truly excellent bait for whiting (very similar to yours), bream (like a porgy) and flathead ( sort of like an elongated flounder - Platycephalus). Usually we'd use a long-shanked hook that I think you call an Aberdeen. Thread it through from their butthole to their head. No need for adding miles of string to the ocean every time you go fishing. Our bait pumps are mostly stainless steel and last for decades. I have 3. One is about 35 years old now. They're constructed much the same as yours but have a 90 degree handle near the top cap. This makes them much easier to work with and a "gun" can turn up yabbies like lightning. Pumping yabbies is usually done at low tide on sand flats as the holes are exposed and easily accessible. We often have a few kids with us and everyone takes turn pumping and scooping up yabbies. The males have a single large claw like fiddler crabs and WILL hurt you if they grab you. Putting them in your pocket is a recipe for disaster here lol. People pumping in shallow water often have floating mesh screens they shoot the pump into so they don't have to retrieve them out of the water. Yabbies are very picky about water quality. They're fairly fragile and die easily. They're one of the few live baits you can buy in Australia and that's providing you can find somewhere that DOES sell them AND has them in stock. www.bcf.com.au/p/wilson-standard-bait-pump/M109937.html?cgid=BCF032515#srule=Price%20Low-High&start=8&sz=60
Before we had bait suction pumps, we placed a large tin over prawn holes, stamped it down in fast! Prawns and water shot out all over, onto us too! Fun but messy! On the north western USA coast, Oregon etc, they use a large diameter short pipe, with a handle on top, to push and twist into sand/mud to get clams, which we call sand mussels, and razor clams, which we also refer to as pencil bait! They are collected to eat and will be good bait too! 🎣 We have sand and rock mussels which are good baits too! 🇿🇦
Sand fleas are usually caught with a kind of rake. It's a triangular basket made of stainless steel mesh with a handle. The sand fleas leave a little bump in the sand and they'll be clustered together. Drag the rake across the patch, pushing down into the sand. Then lift the whole lot up and sift out the sand on the next wave. Hey presto - sand fleas!
Long shank hooks. I think they're called Aberdeen hooks in the US. Start the hook point in under the tail and then thread the shrimp onto the hook until the point comes out between the shrimps front legs under its head. Been doing it that way here in OZ for 50 years and never once used thread to tie on a bait.
If you get onto a thick patch of them it's not unusual at all. Maybe it is for the area, but here in Oz it's fairly common. MY PB is 8 from a single hole. Their tunnels often interlace and the suction will pull them from all over the place.
I've had Alvey and Wilson brands and recommend them both. I'm Australian so I'm probably biased lol. There's nothing like a bucketful of yabbies to smash the local whiting population with. 8 foot light-medium rod, Alvey 5 inch reel, 6 pound line and size #2 long-shank (Aberdeen) hooks.
