Ready to board the Tammy Jane

Captain Spike, of the shrimper Tammy Jane, looked over his shoulder as he hauled in the net.  “We done good,” he said as he wrestled the business end of the net onto the boat. As it came aboard, he grinned and said, “We done real good.”

I was aboard the Tammy Jane with five others on Calibogue Sound off Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, towards the end of a two hour shrimping cruise on opening day of the season.

Leaving Harbour Town

The Tammy Jane, a tour boat run by Vagabond Cruise of Harbour Town,is not a commercial shrimper but a smaller version of the big boys.  It has all the fishing gear that you would find on any boat trawling for shrimp on the east coast.

As we headed to the fishing grounds mate Lauren showed us the net.  The forty foot long system (commercial gear is 100 to 150 feet long) is a complex arrangement of shrimp trap and safety measures.

The net trailing behind ready to launch

The wide mouth of the net is held open under water by wooden “barn doors” as it is pulled along the bottom. Tickle chains along the bottom edge ride along the seafloor, stirring up shrimp and fish into the net.

The fine mesh net narrows down toward the business end. Along the way, there are places for large fish and turtles to escape, while the catch is funneled to the end of the net.

As we approached the shrimping grounds, Lauren fed out the net up to the barn doors.  The whole system was visible as it stretched out behind the boat. At the mouth of Calibogue Sound where it meets the Atlantic near green marker 7, Spike positioned the Tammy Jane for dragging.

Captain Spike in the wheel house

On his command, Lauren paid out the cable until it reached the bottom about twenty five feet below and forty feet behind. Spike left the wheelhouse to peer over the stern, checking the motion of the cable where it entered the water.  

With his years of experience he could read the jiggle of the cable and adjust the net as it trawled. He called from the wheelhouse, “Five more!” instructing Lauren to let out five more revolutions of the winch drum. The fine tuning continued all through the forty-five minute drag as depth and bottom conditions changed.

Lauren explains about the wildlife.

Spike maneuvered the Tammy Jane up and down the edge of the channel at the depth where the shrimp hang out. It takes a good deal of skill to keep the net straight and on the bottom while staying on the good fishing grounds.   He constantly adjusted the throttle and tinkered with the depth of the net. “Two up!” or “Three down!” he called to Lauren over the loudspeaker as he steered.

The high thin clouds and onshore breeze moderated the 95 degree heat, as we fished. Spike cautioned us that the moderate chop at the mouth of the sound would rock the boat as it turned abeem.

Lauren and Spike hauling the net

While we trawled, Lauren talked about the bird and sea life in the sound. She was surprised that we didn’t see any dolphins, but we did see some marked out sea turtle nests on the beach of Daufuskie Island. Calibogue Sound is a nursery for the ocean, supporting and protecting new life until it is ready to go to sea.  Two boys, ages 6 and 4, were a rapt audience for this information.

At last, the order was given to haul the net. Spike and Lauren wrestled it aboard, working as a well-choreographed team.  Once aboard, the catch was dumped on a sorting table.

The catch on the sorting table

A shrimping haul is typically 80% bycatch and 20% shrimp.  The table filled, not only with shrimp, but with baby sharks, small silvery fish of all shapes, squid, flounder, and even a few small crabs – a catalog of the diversity of the sound. Lauren sorted the shrimp from the bycatch, naming the species as she did and letting us touch and hold some of the fish before tossing them back.

The shrimp covered a range of sizes from the ones you might see on a shrimp louie salad, to some big enough for a scampi saute. “These are white shrimp,” Spike told me. “Later in the season we’ll see tiger shrimp.”  

The shrimping season, controlled by the state, runs roughly from late May through mid September. The dates vary from year to year due to fluctuations in weather and water temperature. The commercial catch from Calibogue Sound is sold fresh to local seafood markets and restaurants.

As we headed back to the dock Lauren taught us how to pinch the heads off the shrimp.  We were still at it when we got back to the dock, so crew members from other tour boats, impressed with our catch, came over to help.

Boiled shrimp for dinner

The catch was divided up among the passengers and crew.  I ended up with a couple pounds of the freshest shrimp I’ll ever have. Boiled up with plenty of salt, bay leaves, and lemon they had a firm texture and bright flavor that you only get from just caught. Peeled while they’re still warm and dunked in lemon butter, you better believe they were some good eating.