# tips and tricks on blue crabbing.



## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

I haven't eat a blue crab for a long time! So I want to head out on the coast to catch some crabs. I don't want to set up crab traps in the water. Is there any tips how to catch a crab? Like crab fishing? What bait? Net? Show me how so I can go!

I'm craving for a steamed garlic and butter blue crabs....hmmmm.... ;D


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

i set up some sticks/ poles in the water @ waist deep with string and chicken necks/ pieces on them about 10' long ,spread them out 15' or so apart, toss the bait out and watch the string pull TIGHT ,there they are!! pull in slowly and scoop with net, they will usually hang on as long as possible and return if spooked away ,great fun for the kids too... 
-anytide


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## Un-shore (Sep 27, 2007)

I bought a trap that lays flat that you bait-n-wait and when you pull it up by the string it folds into a pyramid and traps the crab.

I have yet to use it but I guess it works by luck because you don't know if the crab is there or not until you pull it up.

It is about 12" square on the bottom and I got it at a bait and tackle store. I think I saw something like it at wally world too.

anytides way seems more productive.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Wading or poling (depending on bottom)
using a landing net to scoop them up.
Don't forget, here in Florida, still have to have a saltwater fishing license
and follow the regulations...

http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Saltwater_Regulations_recbluecrab.htm


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## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

Wow, lots of childhood memories there!  Lots of ways to catch crabs with out a trap.  A fold up pyramid or box trap like Un-shore mentioned is a good way if you are on a pier or anchored boat.  They work okay from shore, but they will land on their side periodically and don't work right then.  The classic twine and chicken neck works very well as mentioned.  You may need to add a little weight to keep the chicken neck from floating.  There used to be a wire snap with weight on it that you could impale the chicken on just for that purpose, but an egg or bank sinker works just fine.  When pulling in the crab, I used to use a hand over hand pull and not grab more than 3-5'' of twine at a time.  You will figure out how hungry the crabs are that day and how much pulling they will tolerate.  I also would put the net in the water resting on the bottom with the end of the handle resting on my belt or thigh and then walk the crab onto it.  BTW this is a GREAT way to get kids involved in the outdoors.  Have them hold the net first, then have them pull the crab, and finally do both.  They can race up and down the beach and make all the noise in the world between bites and the crabs just don't care.  Of course if YOU tell them the crabs will run away because of noise, that is up to you!  Call the kids when a line tightens up.  You can also use chicken necks/backs from a boat etc. but the crabs get a bit more squirrely when off the bottom.  Finally like Brett mentioned you can just scoop them up.  We used to call that "crab dipping" in Tidewater Virginia when I was growing up.  It is easier if you can extend your dip net handle or even modify a shrimp net by changing the netting out (crabs are a pain to untangle, especially when they are trying to get a "piece" of you).  As far as dipping goes, a decent current helps since the crabs use it to travel (think pass crabs etc).  Also one of the absolute best ways to catch blue crabs is to dip at night with a spot light while polling/trolling.  You definitely need a longer pole and fast reflexes for that one.  They will be swimming on the surface, so you don't need clear water for that.  Wow I haven't thought about that in a long time, thanks for the memories!  BTW having grown up on the Chesapeake I have to say the ONLY way to cook and eat crab is with OLD BAY seasoning and beer!


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## Bob_Rogers (Oct 14, 2009)

Memories indeed, my grandfather had a bungalow on the York River, little fishing town of Bena, Va. Crabbing off his dock was part of the summer ritual - crab nets and chicken necks. I can still hear those jimmies scratching at the 20 gallon tin steam pot as the water began to boil......

And yes, garlic blue crabs are a peversion, a crime against nature. Old Bay rules!


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## ihuntfish (Jul 22, 2009)

Great lunchtime discussion! 
Lots of good advice here. Both the pyramid traps as well as box traps work great! However i would recommend killies/mudminnows as bait. Buy yourself a pint or trap them yourself then put them on the trap rings and freeze them in ziplock bags. Blue crabs love them, they always out produce other baits we have soaked in the past.

For the string method gulp products work just as well or better than chicken necks










YUM!!!!!


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## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

Bobber:
LOL, they used to tell us horror stories about "Guinea-men" when I was a kid.  Of course there was just enough truth to it to make it all very believable.  "Don't park out in Guinea with your girlfriend, they'll take her and make her one of their own, and then use you for crab bait!" Oh boy, those were the days!  Man were we suckers too.  Folks out there probably told their kids the same thing about Proquoson. I used to crab on the other side at the mouth of a creek right on the Colonial Parkway.  Did pretty good there.  My mom would drive us out there and read while my friends and I put a hurtin' on the crabs.


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## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

Didn't have Gulp when I was a kid. But I bet you are right though. Chicken necks/backs are just so cheap and durable. We used to bait our set traps with menhaden. A bushel of fresh menhaden used to cost $6-8. Of course a bushel of #1 Jimmies was $20-25... Gasp! Last I heard it is over $100 now.


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## tedzap (Aug 7, 2010)

I grew up crabbing on the Chesapeake with the twine method.  I think it's better off of a low dock (than the beach) because you don't have to pull the crabs into the extreme shallows.  In my experience they move to such old structure when they are full of meat and are close to molting.

Fish heads work better than chicken, run the twine through their mouth and out the gills and tie a knot. If you bury the fish heads in the sand for a day or two they get a little stinky and become crab crack.  

The way I do it is to cast out 10 to 15 feet, then immediately start pulling it in (inch by inch).  You will feel it when a crab starts giving resistance, kids (off all ages) will start yelling what a monster it is.   I always seemed to catch more with the bait moving than just leaving it on the bottom.   

When you get him close enough for the net, pull him toward the surface and scoop him just as he is breaking the surface.  They usually realize there is something wrong and let go if you try to pull them out of the water.

You can pick them up by their rearmost leg(s) where it meets the body and they can't reach you with their claws.   You will get a feel for how much meat they have by their weight, and you can test for a peeler by pinching the tip of their rearmost leg.   If a peeler then the meat will move out from under your pinch and leave a hollow shell.   The meat will almost immediately flow back into position when you let go.

Let the little ones go, as well as the light ones.   Don't break their claws unless they are keepers.

From my boat house you can pull up a couple dozen in an hour with a single line (bracketing high tide).    I rarely have more than two lines out per person.    This seems to be a bumper crop year for crabs in the lower Chesapeake.

I wish you tight crab lines!


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Do you cook 'em then clean 'em,
or clean 'em then cook 'em?

                      :-?

http://www.bluecrab.info/cbyc.html


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## Tom_C (Dec 10, 2006)

Memories indeed!!! I lived in King Gorge County VA for 2 year right on the Potomac River.

Remove crabs from steamer and place on a large platter and sprinkle lightly with the dry seasoning mix. It is best to eat the crabs on a newspaper-covered table which makes cleanup a snap--simply roll up your "table cloth", scraps and all, and toss in the trash. Serve with saltine crackers, small containers of apple cider vinegar (some people like to dip the crab meat into it) and plenty of cold beverages!


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## Bob_Rogers (Oct 14, 2009)

Wow Swamp Skiff, I havn't thought about Guinea Neck in a long time....if memory serves, the Smith clan was the bad un's. My Papa knew all the watermen, we always had several yard built skiffs at the dock and I would ride out with my grandfather in the afternoon to trade a pint of cheap whiskey for a basket of crabs or oysters. Learned to run a boat before I could ride a bike, thanks to him.

My great aunt Mabel made the best crab cakes that ever graced this planet. Poached croaker and spot for breakfast, making ice cream with a wooden tub and salt, losing tennis shoes in the muck of the river wading for peelers and softshells -25 cents for each from my Mom, she loved her fried softshell. It was a great place to grow up......


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## Neumie (Jan 13, 2009)

> Do you cook 'em then clean 'em,
> or clean 'em then cook 'em?
> 
> :-?
> ...


In Texas we cook, then clean. If you were to follow that website, seems like the only cooking method would be to steam the crabs.

In Texas, I take my kayak to a knee deep flat, sit side-saddle, drift the flat with net, scoop and toss them in a cooler. Rinse, lather, repeat.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

We cook, then clean also. Crab boil seasoning for flavor,
melted butter with a dash of Crystal for dippin'.
Corn on the cob, russet potatoes and garlic bread.
Makes for an evening of finger lickin' good eatin'.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

them silly ol' blue crabs are too much work for me : i much prefer the big king crabs :-*


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## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

Cook and clean! Unless you want to make garlic crabs.  
  
I agree fish heads attract more crabs.  Chicken is just easier.  Like I said though when we ran a trap line we used menhaden.  The oil in those will draw in crabs from a 100 yd or more

Yup, newspaper table cloth is the way to go.  We used to go down to the Outer Banks in Carolina.  There was this old stilt fish house we would eat in.  The edges of every board were worn off, you could see sand 15' below through the floor boards, and the only new(ish) thing in the place was a juke box.  It was the kind of place that would be blown sky high with a case of dynamite by the dept. of health these days.  I short the place was just awesome for a kid with an active imagination.  They used old cable reels for tables.  A shallow plate had been carved or worn out at each setting and they would put down about 10 layers of newspaper.  Crabs were unceremoniously dumped on the table and we'd go at it with wild abandon.  The hole in the middle of the spool/table had been widened and you just folded up a lay of newsprint as needed and stuffed it into the hole where a trash can waiting. Crab eating at it's finest!

Smith? Could be, sounds about right, but I stayed on the Peninsula for the most part.  The tails probably got taller for every mile you traveled.  It was a great place to grow up.  Whenever I go back I'm kinda sad that things have changed so much.  But I can't say much, I moved to FL a few months after high school, I was ready to go.


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

Wow! That's alots of good information about tips and tricks and great crabbing stories. Keep them coming! Now I wanna go badddddddd..........


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## Cody_Music (Mar 24, 2010)

I rember crabbing as a kid. Chicken on a string and a dip net, tha's it. What fun it was then. Now its just too much work for to little.


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## popcorn (Apr 11, 2010)

A few nice fish heads from a recent catch works or the old standby, chicken necks. Just tie either on a good piece of twine and toss out anywhere crabs are know to live. Sis and I spent many hours in the summer luring them in to the crab net. These days I just catch a few pins or hogfish, cut them up and bait a pot. You will usually have enough for a meal in one tide change and I can go do something else. But if your intent is a leisurely afternoon with the wife and kids, nothing beats crabbing. 
In NC, aside from the usual haunts, canals and impounded waters near salt or brackish water will hold crabs, even in winter. I've seen them while setting decoys in the waterfowl impoundments. 
Some folks boil and then clean, I've always cleaned and then boil. Works either way. 
Good luck!


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

There is a better way.

http://crabmaster.net/default.aspx

My friend Red and me will clean 3 dozen in 20 minutes and no shell left behind.

Frank_S


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Never understood why, but a speckled trout head caught more crabs than a redfish head. We also used lots of duck guts because we did most of our crabbing during duck season. A string and dip net used next to a weir rocked when I was tired of beating the water chasing "real" fish with my dad all day. A long handle dip net is a nice luxury if possible. If I was going to chase crabs and only crabs for an entire day, I'd use drop nets. You can run a string of six and fill a cooler in fairly short order. Drop nets take up next to no space in your storage area and they are dirt cheap.

Nate


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## crabclaw (May 1, 2012)

Love me some blue crabs.  Here's a site with some great tips and tricks to help you catch them. I found this site from another forum while searching for tips for crabbing.  A lot of crabbers recommend the same tips that are on this site.  I can't wait to get out on the water this weekend and catch some crabs!  I use the supplies list off this site to make sure I have everything needed with me.  Check it out crabbing friends:

www.crabtips.com


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

It's been a long time since I start this thread and it's really works for me!

Crab dinner! ;D


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## 1texasaggie (Mar 20, 2012)

> In Texas we cook, then clean.


Blue crabs are a way of life where I grew up here in Texas and I've never met anyone that didn't clean them first, and then cook them. Perhaps that's just the upper Texas coast...different strokes.

Agree with the chicken neck technique- usually the quickest and cheapest way I've found to fill a cooler full of blue crabs. But then again, blue crabs are so thick around here that they're typically considered a nuisance. Luckily, the commercial crabbers have thousands of traps in the water to keep the population in check.



> Never understood why, but a speckled trout head caught more crabs than a redfish head.


Wish Texas would allow this, but it is apparently prohibited to use gamefish parts as crab bait. I have always thought it wasteful to buy chicken necks when you could recycle fish heads. But then again, fish carcasses make incredible fertilizer for my trees.


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## zeneb (Jun 20, 2011)

You people are making me hungry and nostalgic. I spent many a summer in my youth in Chesapeake beach at Chick's beach. I'd go deep see fishing for sea bass and take my catch home, cook it up, add some Jimmies and eat till I couldn't stand myself. Memories indeed.

Hooching


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

"It is apparently prohibited to use gamefish parts as crab bait."

Weird. I guess I can see their reasoning, but that is annoying for recreational crabbers.

I never plugged my favorite crab/shrimp/crawfish boil previously, but I feel obligated that now that I am stranded in the land of Old Bay.











Nate


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## Cody_F (Oct 26, 2010)

We have always went out in a group 3-5 into a narrow creek on low tide and wade with nets in a search party like formation. Garlic butter for sure when cooking


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