# Price of Frozen Shrimp



## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Just a question for you guys. For some time now, I have been buying frozen shrimp from Publix on sale for $5.99 per lb. The shrimp is usually from Thailand, and has been deveined, but still has the shell on. It's also headless. Forgot the size, but it's pretty big...enough to bait two hooks with one shrimp (3/0 hooks), except the deveining makes it a little more complicated to thread it on the hook. A couple of times, I even found some smaller shrimp (twice as big as popcorn shrimp) on sale at Wally World in the seafood Dept. for $2.99 per lb, and it wasn't deveined, but was also headless. No clue where it came from. Does anyone else buy shrimp from local seafood markets, etc? I'm wondering if the farm-raised stuff is just as good as the local wild stuff...i.e. what the local fish population is used to eating. I know that the locally purchased frozen shrimp from the tackle shops leaves a lot to be desired and when you compare the price for that versus the Publix prices, you come out WAY ahead. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Maybe I need to buy a bag from the tackle shop, compare the size, and pull the heads off and weigh it to see what the price per lb is on that.


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

I think hands down the "Fresh dead" shrimp are the best. These are the ones that died in the water of "live" shrimp. Only dead long enough for the bait shop to see and put in a bag and stick in the freezer. Not processed somewhere else frozen.


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## creek (Dec 16, 2003)

Always wondered what fresh dead shrimp were,  always thought they were the ones that died in my bait bucket, Thanks for the clairification VicIII


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## Surf Fish (Dec 16, 2005)

Shrimp are like roses. A shrimp is a shrimp is a shrimp....

If you notice the signs in Publix, many are "previously frozen" before they got fresh again. That's because the newer shrimp boats flash freeze them when they catch them, at least the ones here do. The local fish markets sometimes don't bother with the sign, they just sell them as fresh. 

Try some salted shrimp, that beats fresh, live frozen, fresh dead frozen, or otherwise. 

Personally, the last place I'd buy any bait is a tackle store.


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

I've said it before, and here goes again...

If it's fit for YOU to eat, it's fit for FISH to eat. 

They do NOT know or CARE where it came from.

If you buy shrimp by the pound with heads on, you throw away 1/3-1/2 of what you bought.

All the talk of your bait "having to be local" and "bait shop is better" is straight BULLS HIT!

I use STRICTLY farm raised from Thailand, sometimes salted, sometimes fresh, and if they are biting, I catch fish.

PERIOD.


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

I fish salted shrimp when I catch it on sale cheap at Wally World. $2.99 / lb is pretty cheap bait.
Most times I just carry a bucket and cast net. If I catch bait I fish, If there's no bait, well there's not much reason to fish


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

Railroader said:


> I've said it before, and here goes again...
> 
> If it's fit for YOU to eat, it's fit for FISH to eat.
> 
> ...


I went to the beach one day and I had fresh dead (No I don't care that much and would not even make a special stop for the different shrimp. I will always use what I have.) My buddy had shrimp from some frozen nasty orange shrimp but still was frozen. I had a long cast and short in the first trough. He had the same. I out caught him 4 to 1. I think fresh is the key weather fresh dead or flash frozen. But I still seem to out catch him with the fresh dead. Not scientific but still works. Now salted clams is even better for pomps...
RR catches fish cause he knows how. Not because of the shrimps...


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

VICIII said:


> ...My buddy had shrimp from some frozen nasty orange shrimp but still was frozen. I out caught him 4 to 1...


Once those shrimp turned ORANGE, they are no longer fit to be eaten BY ANYTHING...

As for me knowing how to catch fish, well :redface::redface:, sometimes the fish don't know that I know how....:redface::redface:


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

I'll throw my hat in the ring as saying that when I used to fish with dead shrimp (about 2 years straight), my catch ratio with supermarket bought imported shrimp was about 1/3 as the catch with the frozen shrimp they sell at Sunglow Pier (Candie's Bait I believe). Now granted I was only fishing about 325 days a year back then, but I would drive 20 miles further to get shrimp that I knew worked rather than use Publix or Wal-mart imported shrimp. YMMV though...


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Used to buy the tackle shop shrimp, fresh frozen in Myrtle Beach and drop them around the pilings while I fished for big reds and flounder. Caught alot of nice black drum that way and my second best redfish 46", came on a whole jumbo shrimp threaded onto a 6/0 circle hook. I wish we still had the pictures from 5 years ago on here, I'd pull them up.


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

Railroader said:


> Once those shrimp turned ORANGE, they are no longer fit to be eaten BY ANYTHING...
> 
> As for me knowing how to catch fish, well :redface::redface:, sometimes the fish don't know that I know how....:redface::redface:


I may have exaggerated a little...
I just hate some of the frozen shrimp that some bait shops sell how rancid it smell as soon as it thaws...:--|


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