One of the perks of living in Charleston is going out on the boat, catching your dinner, and enjoying it with a group of friends. For the second part of our “Comfort On, Adventure Out” Series, we left the rods at home and took the nets out for an afternoon of deep hole shrimping. Follow along as we went out with our ambassador Captain Johnny Crislip to catch our dinner and to later boil it up Lowcountry style. (And yes, we've included this South Carolina traditional recipe for you to enjoy).  

 

  

Step One: Catch the Shrimp

Johnny met us, our friend Anna, and the Badfish guys at Shem Creek to head out to the harbor for an afternoon of deep hole shrimping. As the waters get colder with the fall season, shrimp relocate to deeper waters, so Johnny used the boat's depth finder to locate just the right spot to deep drop. (Curious of what the right spot is? The right spot includes an area where schools of shrimp are holding tight to the bottom in a deep area of the water).

 

 

Once we located just the right spot, Johnny threw his cast net out and allowed it to settle to the bottom covering all the shrimp in the process. No bait was used during this method and within a couple of hours, Johnny had filled up a large cooler full of huge tasty shrimp for the night's boil. 

 

 

Step Two: Eat the Shrimp

No deep hole shrimping outing would be complete without a proper reward, so we invited a group of friends over for a Lowcountry boil. Marty, from Badfish, took lead on this, as he dumped the fresh catch into a giant pot with vegetables and sausage and cooked up a feast for all of us to enjoy. 

 

Don't worry, we didn't forget about you. Our friend Marty left his Lowcountry Boil recipe with us, and we're spreading the love by giving it to you.

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 lbs of fresh shrimp

  • 2-3 lbs of red potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

  • 2 smoked andouille sausages

  • 5-6 pieces of corn, broken in half

  • 2 yellow or white onions, roughly cut into 1/48

  • 2-3 halved lemons

  • 2-3 Zatarain’s “boil in a bag” boxes

  • 1 or 2 boxes of Old Bay seasoning

  • Plenty of hot sauce and cocktail sauce

  • Roughly chopped parsley for garnish

  • Plenty of newspaper (for serving)

    Directions:

    Bring pot of water to a boil with 2-3 lemons and a couple packs of Zatarain’s. Add the potatoes and start a 20-minutes countdown. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. After 10 minutes add onion. After 15 minutes add sausage and corn. In the last 3-5 minutes add the shrimp. Make sure the table is prepared with a couple layers of newspaper. Life the basket to let the liquid drain back into the pot, and dump the boil onto the table. Dust it with Old Bay and enjoy!

    Cooktime:

    • 35-50 min.
    • Feeds 6-8

    Fall in the Lowcountry is a special time. Whether we're chasing redfish or casting nets for shrimp, there never is a bad day when it involves being on the water and spending time with good company. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for our final story of the "Comfort On, Adventure Out" Series, where we invite ambassador Jenny Tatelman down to Charleston for a day of fly fishing in the flats. 

    Photos and Video: Badfish and Dylan Schmitz