Years ago, I was obsessed with live bait of all kinds. I kept live wells with mullet, shrimp, pinfish, and cigar minnows. I spent a lot of time tending to bait and battling the otters at the marina. My inshore bait of choice was the live shrimp, hands-down. No question, live mullets will get the bite, but the shrimp is irresistible.

I would spend hours and hours catching, housing, and feeding bait. Then, finally, I was just about at the end of my inshore live bait road when along came the DOA shrimp. I love everything about that soft plastic shrimp body. It’s pretty tough, looks just like a real shrimp, and can work in every situation, including depth, grass/roots, and current, when used with the correct hardware.

I have to admit there are times when I may catch a few more fish with live shrimp, but I can carry my entire inshore tackle box now in just a few small trays of jig heads, DOA shrimp colors, and a bottle of Pro-Cure shrimp scent. It’s easy to plug a DOA body on the jig, apply a liberal amount of Pro-Cure shrimp scent on the legs and underside, and start fishing. I have so much faith in this combination. It’s just a given; they will eat it when presented properly. I could write several pages of this article regarding the different applications, but I’ll be brief.

I keep four rods rigged with shrimp:

  1. Shrimp body on a 3/8-ounce Barefoot Jig.
  2. Shrimp under a fixed cork about 20 inches deep on a 3/8 oz.  Barefoot Jig.
  3. Shrimp under a sliding cork on a 3/8-ounce Barefoot Jig (to suspend over shell beds).
  4. Shrimp (weedless, or as it comes out of the package) without a jig head.

I can go anywhere there are shrimp and catch trout, drum, snook, and more with a very small tackle box: Barefoot Jig, DOA Shrimp, extra braid and fluorocarbon, and of course Pro-Cure Shrimp Sauce – all of it fits in a Walmart bag.

My go-to setup: a DOA shrimp on the Barefoot Jig without a cork, but under the fixed and sliding cork is sometimes just the ticket. You can use the sliding cork around docks and snags at an irresistibly slow speed. It works so well because the jig head is balanced and maintains a perfectly horizontal position with or without a cork.

The key is to make the fake shrimp look like real shrimp. A live shrimp does not move around stern- or bow-heavy. Instead, a live shrimp moves through the water slowly in a perfectly horizontal position. Look at the bait in the livewell or a tackle shop selling live shrimp. It’s the reason the DOA catches so many fish: it swims horizontally.

Pro-Cure Shrimp Super Gel

The weedless version of this shrimp is hugely effective for fishtailing in the grass or around mangrove roots. That’s one reason to keep one rigged and ready, always moving around quietly. Click here for a video of this variation.

Freshwater & Saltwater Tackle to use with Shrimp Include:

Barefoot Jig: Great catching anything: Trout (speckled and gray), Drum (red and black), Flounder, Striped bass (and Hybrid), Largemouth bass, Smallmouth bass, Walleye, anything!

For smaller freshwater fish try:

Size #6: Target fish include Panfish including Bluegill (Bream), Sunfish, and Crappie. Also great for Trout, Carp, White Perch, and more.

For larger freshwater fish try:

Size 1/0: Target fish include Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Larger Trout, Carp, Walleye, and more. Barefoot Jig: Target fish include Trout (speckled and gray), Drum (red and black), Flounder, Striped and Hybrid Bass, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and more!

For larger catfish fish try:

7/0 Catfish Circle Hook: Target fish include Blue, Bullhead, Channel, Flathead, and White Catfish.

SALTWATER TACKLE YOU MAY WANT TO TRY:

7/0 and 11/0 J-Hook Chin Weights: Target fish include Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi or Common Dolphin, King Mackerel, Wahoo, and more. Easy to rig!

4 oz. Crab Decoy Jig: Target fish for Striped Bass, nearshore Drum, Snook, Grouper, west coast bottom fish, and more.

4 oz. Tuna Squid Decoy Jig: From the eastern, western, Alaskan, and gulf coasts, target fish include: Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo, Fluke, Flounder, Striped Bass, Seabass, Amberjack (east coast), Yellow Tail (west coast), California White Sea Bass (west coast), Grouper, Snapper, Halibut, Ling cod, and all Alaskan bottom fish.

8 oz. - 12 oz. 10/0 Squid Decoy Jig: Catch BIG Grouper, Amberjack, Giant Stripers, and more.