by Colby Sorrells
Tackle Time
NEW SHRIMP
“It is a strange fact that a lure actually made to look like a shrimp,
one that is an exact copy of a shrimp, usually will catch nothing.”
Hart Stilwell in “Hunting and Fishing in Texas” circa 1945.
H
art Stilwell knew what he was talking about back in
1945. Lure makers have imitated shrimp for over 90
years with lures they hope will fool fish. Some shrimp
lures worked, but most have come up short. Now there
is a new trend taking place that may change anglers’ success.
Shrimp are one of the primary food sources for all fish along
the Gulf coast. Everything, including fishermen, eat shrimp. It
didn’t take long for anglers to come up with a shrimp imitation
for coastal fishing.
One of the earliest shrimp imitations
is the Shakespeare Shrimp made out of
wood. This jointed lure is large,
measuring over five inches long, and
includes glass eyes. But it really didn’t
look much like a shrimp. The heavy
weight and large size were more
determined by the tackle used to cast it,
than the actual shrimp it tried to imitate.
Heddon soon got into the shrimp
business and made their Shrimpy Spook
out of amber plastic. This shrimp was
much closer to the real thing in shape
but once again was heavy and large as
required by the day’s tackle. Most examples were destroyed by
deterioration of the unstable plastic.
Nichols, of Corpus Christi, made a hand carved amber
plastic shrimp that got much closer to the mark. Nichols early
plastic shrimp are close to the size of natural shrimp most often
used as bait. Unfortunately, Nichols shrimp were also prone to
plastic shrinkage with most examples crystallizing and falling
apart.
Nichols founder, Fred E. Nichols, sold his original company
and started another, FENCO (Fred E. Nichols Company).
Nichols took a real shrimp and had a mold made from the natural
bait. The FENCO Shrimp certainly looks like a natural shrimp
but it lacks the essential movement found in live shrimp. Stilwell
was right again!
Texas coastal legend Anton “Pluggin’ Shorty” Stettner
worked with BINGO of Corpus Christi to make his more stylized
molded plastic shrimp. The BINGO Shrimp includes the side
wings Stettner became famous for. The stylized BINGO Shrimp
caught lots of fish.
One of the first successful modern shrimp lures is made by
D.O.A. of Florida. Inventor Mark Nichols knew what he wanted
in a shrimp lure and his D.O.A. Shrimp have been catching fish
for over three decades.
One of the keys to D.O.A. Shrimp is making the body out
of soft plastic. Maybe more important is rigging the lure with
a single hook that includes a weight at the bottom of the shrimp
belly making the lure ride correctly with the back side up.
8
GULF COAST FISHERMAN
D.O.A. Shrimp are not an exact replica of a real shrimp, but
include just enough of the features like wiggling legs, a broad
flapper tail and correct size, to entice weary coastal fish. Stilwell
was right again, but a change was underway.
Technology and cost savings using soft plastic allowed
D.O.A. Shrimp to be the bridge between shrimp imitations of
Stilwell’s days and today’s realistic shrimp lures. D.O.A. Shrimp
led the way, and then sometime after 2010 the Vudu Shrimp
came on the market. Vudu Shrimp,
a product of Egret Baits of Louisiana,
took shrimp imitation to another
level. Vudu Shrimp are also made
of soft plastic and include a unique
rigging system.
Vudu Shrimp include a single
hook riding point up like D.O.A.
Shrimp, but also include a unique
shaped weight making the lure ride
correctly in the water whether it is
fished under a popping cork or fished
like a casting lure. The lur