It was a jumbo day for shrimp
Thousands go after Hood Canal delicacy
The line of trailers at Misery Point boat ramp west of Bremerton stretched clear out of the parking lot by 7:30 a.m., and already the shrimpers – pumped up on Red Bull and strong coffee – were salivating.
“Oh, they’re real good. I sautee ’em with butter and garlic,” said Nancy Schauer, bundled, rubber-booted and ready for a day on the water.
“I season ’em with Johnny’s Seafood Seasoning, fry ’em in butter and put a little wine in it,” said Carol Murphy.
The sisters, both of Port Orchard, were part of the hopeful horde setting out Wednesday for the Holy Grail of Hood Canal – sweet, succulent spot shrimp that pretty much blow their commercially processed counterparts out of the water.
The shrimp population has held steady over the past five years, with 2011 shaping up to be a pretty decent year.
“It’s going well,” Childers said. “People are getting their limits. It’s just that the weather is really crappy.”
There’s a reason the call it Misery Point.
On Wednesday, the moody weather shifted every 15 minutes from wind to blissful sun to sideways whipping rain. The four-hour window made for a frantic scene, with scores of boaters dispersing on the choppy, green water, scoping out a likely spot and readying their pots for the 9 a.m. start.
While some shrimpers have been at it for decades, the father-son team of Randy and Jeff Sjoden had between them one day of experience. Jeff and a buddy, having looked up shrimping on the Internet, limited out off Vashon Island on May 7. Thus encouraged, the Sjodens, of Soap Lake and Lake Tapps respectively, decided to try their luck on Hood Canal.
On the stroke of 9 a.m., the shrimpers lowered their first pots.
Randy maneuvered the 19-foot Alumaweld through a maze of other boats and pot buoys, as Jeff hand-fed the nylon line over the side.
By 9:30 a.m., all four of the Sjodens’ pots were in the water.
Shrimp are hermaphrodites. Starting their lives as males, they transform into females, brooding their eggs on their bodies. By the end of March the eggs have hatched. Openings on traps are sized to capture only the largest shrimp, letting the smaller ones escape.