Thread: ghosties

Have folks been able to find ghosties now that the replenishment operation has moved on to the east?

i sucked up about two and a half dozen under and around the pier but it took me bout an hour.

Excuse my googanness...what is a ghostie?

That's not a 'googan' question, just a 'newbie' one ;-)

"Ghostie" is a slang term for beach ghost shrimp Callichirus islagrande
They are a common (yet seldom seen) invertebrate that lives IN the sand of the nearshore waters.
Sort of a saltwater crayfish.
They are an important bridge between converting nutrients trapped in the sand back into the ecosystem and their tunnels provide aeration for bacteria to break down these nutrients.
They are also an important food source for shore dwelling fish species such as pompano and the drums (gulf & northern kingfish, red & black drum, etc.)

http://loyno.edu/lucec/natural-histo...rus-islagrande

:yippee:

[quote author=divedeep link=topic=2809.msg25298#msg25298 date=1362429630]
Have folks been able to find ghosties now that the replenishment operation has moved on to the east?
[/quote]

The immediate area around the pier was NOT directly impacted by the beach dredging operations.
They stayed a hundred or so yards east and several hundred yards to the west (thanks for small favors).

My only anecdotal evidence was observing a guy slurping some around West 10th St on Monday.
Then the folks I fished with (from MI) bought a pump and surped enough to fish with on Wednesday.

Some reading I found interesting...
https://www.cbi.tamucc.edu/wp-conten...ley_final1.pdf

If sedimentation rate is very rapid, environmental stress
may result in organisms experiencing major colonial disruption or even total defaunation.

Translation: beach dredging may strongly affect or even wipe out beach ghost shrimp colonies!

data indicate that the mean short term recovery rate of the opportunistic Callichirus is 44.9 ft/month (13.7 m/month).

Translation: At best a surviving colony may expand at a rate of about 45 feet per month.

...The mean long term recovery rate is calculated to be 33.8 ft/month (10.3 m/month)...

Translation: On the average the recovery rate is epected to much slower.

Who knows how long it will take for the populations to recover or reestablish themselves?
:-\

I have caught a few around west beach pass. Mangroves love them too.

Slurped 2 dozen this am in fairly short order just east of sea n suds (3/4 mile from pier)in the ankle wash. So, hopefully the dredge impact was minimal

I would like to know how to keep ghost shrimp alive to fish with; what manner are they fished; what size hook for, say, Pompano?
This may be a really googanist, probably the most googanist, sort of question, but for folks like myself, who get to fish one week, or maybe twice a year, at the beach, these are the questions we ask ourselves. Out near Ft. Morgan, I use live shrimp, and catch sand fleas. I have seen many of the 'homes' the ghost shrimp make; no idea they were a bait source. And what about those worms, that can move thru the wet sand. Are they also used as a bait? We really enjoy the little time that we get to enjoy and explore the beach enviroment, to the point that we only leave the beach when necessary. Our other pastime is birdwatching. If we lived closer, we would never get any work done. As I have read the posts at this site, I have come to learn more in a short time than I ever thought I could. Thank you, guys.

bodebum, that is not a googan question. I too have questions like that time to time, never hurts to ask :fishing:. But to answer your question, I just put them in my bait bucket with the aerator going. They seem to do just fine. Ghost are much more delicate than regular shrimp, I don't know how others rig them, but I just run the hook all the way through them. Usually for sheepshead just drop them straight down with a 1/4 oz lead, 12in flouro or mono leader, and a 1/0, #1 hook. I've used the same setup for pompano.

[quote author=Pier#r link=topic=2809.msg25613#msg25613 date=1362842138]
That's not a 'googan' question, just a 'newbie' one ;-)

"Ghostie" is a slang term for beach ghost shrimp Callichirus islagrande
They are a common (yet seldom seen) invertebrate that lives IN the sand of the nearshore waters.
Sort of a saltwater crayfish.
They are an important bridge between converting nutrients trapped in the sand back into the ecosystem and their tunnels provide aeration for bacteria to break down these nutrients.
They are also an important food source for shore dwelling fish species such as pompano and the drums (gulf & northern kingfish, red & black drum, etc.)

http://loyno.edu/lucec/natural-histo...rus-islagrande

:yippee:
[/quote]

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.