Anglers can use a variety of methods to effectively fish live and artificial shrimp to catch Texas’ “Big 3.”

Story and Photography by Danno Wise

Spring sees Texas bays filling with shrimp. As the population of kicking crustaceans increases, they will move to the top of the menu for every inshore species of fish found in coastal waters of the Lone Star State. Therefore, it’s no mystery what Texas bay fishermen should be throwing this month. In a classic match-the-hatch scenario, shrimp and shrimp imitating lures will generally out-produce other lures and baits while predator fish are focusing their feeding activities on shrimp.

Of course, shrimp are one of the most common live baits used by Texas fishermen throughout the year. There are periods of time when it’s hard to come by live shrimp, but this isn’t one of them. During April white “Live Bait” flags will be flapping on the spring winds in front of bait shops up and down the coast. So acquiring live shrimp won’t be an issue this month. However, even seasoned saltwater fishermen often don’t realize just how many ways live shrimp can be utilized.

Popping cork rigs have long been the most common way to employ live shrimp on the Texas coast. Today there are more cork options than ever – each of which creates a different level of disturbance and sound. As a rule, the deeper and murkier the water, the louder the cork should be. When fishing on shallow, clear flats, anglers should opt for thin “Mansfield Mauler” style corks. Regardless of the style of cork being used, the advantages of a popping cork rig include maintaining the bait at a constant depth, creating fish attracting sound and having the ability to slow or completely stop the retrieve.