Looking to harvest spot shrimp in the South Sound? Marine Area 11 is the closest access to an opportunity to harvest spot shrimp for South Sound shrimpers.
Typically, Marine Area 11 is only open to harvest spot shrimp on one day for 4 hours, each year just like most other interior Puget Sound Marine Areas.
Current Spot Shrimp Opportunity in Marine Area 11
You can always check on the WDFW website here for the latest on the spot shrimp season for Marine Area 11.
Where to launch for Spot Shrimp in Marine Area 11?
There are a few decent launches around Marine Area 11, but our favorite is by far Point Defiance.
Really, it’s the nicest launch in the entire Puget Sound 2nd only to the 10th street Everett launch.
There are 8 lanes for launching boats and ample parking to handle the kind of traffic a 4-hour spot shrimp opener typically requires.
I would advise always trying to be in the water 2 hours prior to the actual shrimp opener to avoid the late last-minute rush.
You don’t want to be searching for shrimp when the season opens and pots start getting dropped.
You can also launch at Redondo, but I’ve had some bad experiences with traffic and parking there, such that I don’t plan to go back anytime soon.
The one advantage of Redondo though is that it’s further north, and as we will get into on the next section, the better shrimping is further north in Marine Area 11.
Where to harvest Spot Shrimp in Marine Area 11?
Finding a place to shrimp in Marine Area 11 is not a challenge at all on the season opener. Why is that? Well, the entire water will be dotted with boats and yellow buoys marking where everyone else thinks the shrimp will be.
While the above approach might work for someone who just wants to get out and get their pots wet if you are on this blog page, it’s probably because you want to know a bit more about this topic, right?
It’s highly helpful to have the Navionics app on your phone or device, so you can study charts prior to going out there on the water.
The most productive spot shrimp areas can be found by looking at charts, sitting at home, and sipping on your favorite beverage.
When you combine the chart research with a pre-scouting trip to locate shrimp on your sonar, you will be quite effective during that 4-hour opener.
Let me give you some ideas here though:
Tramp Harbor on the East side of Vashon Island provides the kind of geography that will support large populations of spot shrimp.
Spot shrimp are very current-sensitive and will only actively swim and feed during periods of low/no current.
Areas inside of points, harbors/bays, or 3-sided holes with a gradual slope going from 200 to 350 ft of water are ideal.
Dolphin Point is near the north tip of Vashon Island, and the best areas to shrimp will be south of the point all the way down for at least a mile (as far as we’ve been).
Shrimpers will be heavily concentrated around the point, but further south yields good catches as well.
Looking for more in-depth tips about harvesting spot shrimp? Checkout the parent page Puget Sound Spot Shrimp for everything you need to know.
