A smaller, extremely-efficient shrimp net called the Mongoose can provide a great outing for a family headed to the beach. Captain Mike Wilson of Gulf Shores, Alabama, offers family shrimping trips as well as shrimping-and-fishing combo trips. On these trips, the family gets to go with Captain Wilson and learn how he puts out the net, and how the net catches shrimp, crabs, croakers and other small fish. At the end of the trip, they can take the freshly-caught shrimp with them to cook for dinner or to freeze for meals in the future. But the net catches more than just shrimp for eating. It also catches small live shrimp that are just right to use as live bait to catch speckled trout, redfish, flounder, sheepshead, pompano and many other hard-fighting, delicious-tasting inshore species that can be caught in bays, canals and the surf.

I took my wife, Denise, and my special-needs son, Hunter, to the beach with me last week, for a shrimping trip. In two mornings, we not only caught shrimp to eat and live shrimp to fish with, I also caught speckled trout and redfish in the 1050-mile Gulf Intracoastal Canal.

If you live near the coast or go to the coast frequently, consider taking your freshwater fishing boat and 25-30 mph motor with you and purchasing one of these 12-foot Mongoose nets for family fishing trips, catching live bait to fish with or bringing home fresh shrimp to sell or give away to family, friends and neighbors. Catching the shrimp to eat and fish with is only one of the benefits of a family shrimping trip. The display of wildlife that comes in to feed on the bycatch (small fish and crabs that are released back into the bay after the shrimp are picked out) is an opportunity to watch seagulls, pelicans and bottlenose dolphins up close and personal. You also will want to bring your camera on this trip to get family photos and videos and to enjoy pictures later you’ve made of the birds and mammals that come right up beside the boat to feed on the bycatch after you’ve picked out the shrimp you want to keep.

Check out Captain Mike Wilson’s Bama Slam Inshore Adventures at. https://www.facebook.com/bamaslam.inshore or call, 251-747-6941.

“Why I Shrimp and Fish” – https://youtu.be/WEZ-4ruPMUE

Here’s one of our family’s favorite shrimp recipes.

Sopping Shrimp Bake

The first time we made this dish, we decided that we could prepare this yummy sauce and eat it on most anything – bread, rice and or noodles.

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh, wild shrimp, cleaned and deheaded

1/2-cup butter

2 tablespoons chili or cocktail sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2-tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1/2-teaspoon paprika

1/2-teaspoon dried oregano

1/2-teaspoon ground red pepper

Preparation:

Spread the shrimp in a shallow foil-lined pan. Combine the butter, chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Creole or Cajun seasoning, lemon juice, parsley, paprika, oregano and red pepper in a saucepan, stirring over low heat until the butter is melted. Pour the sauce over the shrimp, and chill for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve with French bread for sopping. Or, you can serve the shrimp and sauce over rice. Serves 4-6.

You’ll enjoy John E. Phillips’ book, “Fishing Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and Visitor’s Guide,” available in Kindle and print versions at http://amzn.to/XkluEO.

Tomorrow: How I’m Living My Dream Offering Shrimping Trips with Captain Mike Wilson