Blue Crabbing Rewards

Blue Crabs can usually be found on the very sloppy bottom of mostly estrutaries in pretty shallow salt water. They are very mean and will hurt you if they grab you with their claws. Why go after them? Very simple – their meat is very tender and sweet, and all around quite delicious. They are worth the danger.

Everybody has their own method for Crabbing. They are all slightly different, but mostly the same. It goes like this – place some bait in the water and hope that the crabs come to get it where you can catch them, bring them home and eat them. Now, let’s get down to some differences.

Bait

I think everyone will agree that whenever you use bait, it should be pretty smelly. The crabs will pick up the smell and come to it. I have always used bunker. To me, it is the foulest of the foul smelling sea creatures. Try not to touch it because the smell lingers. Bunker is a northeastern fish as far as I know . So, people down south probably do not use this. They have their own foul smelling things which they do just fine with. I would stick with the type of food that crabs generally consume. Stay away from hot dogs, etc.. I do not know why, but they can not be very good for the environment.

Methods

I have caught crabs, three different ways. The methods are very different and each has its own skill level. They are below.

1. Trap. Bait is tied to the inside of a trap. The trap connected to a rope. The trap is thrown into the water, and three of its sides fall when the trap is thrown into the water, making it easy for the crab to get to the bait. So, if you wait a little while, pull up the trap which closes the sides, and the crabs are trapped and yours (hopefully). This is actually the simplest method because all it requires is a trap with rope, stinky bait and some patience.
2. Instead of using a trap, the debate is connected to a thin line of some type. The bait is thrown into the water and you hold onto the line. Once the bait is in the water, you can tell by experience, whether there are crabs grabbing onto bait. You must then pull the line in slowly and when did this close enough that you can see the crab, net him or her. Definitely, more difficult than using a trap. This method is typically usedclick under a bridge door in a saltwater estuary. Or, something similar. But, it gets worse and possibly better.
3. If you ever get adventurous and have a small boat, go to the harbor. All of the pilings, also known as posts usually have crabs just hanging onto them. Your job is to get close by and net them. nor extremely difficult. Use a partner and to not make shadows which will spook the crabs. Try netting them from below. I have done this and tell you honestly it is very difficult. The crabs seem incredibly smart.

Bonus Methods

At those low tide on a hot day in the summertime, the crabs always seem to be hanging around in the shallow water at a marina. I used to have a boat and would watch people net crabs while the water was shallow. Slightly less difficult than 3 above, but still difficult because the bottom is very mucky. This was the case where my boat was docked.

Crabbing is fun and you can choose the difficulty level you like. Crabs are very expensive to buy. So, when you catch them yourself, it is like getting paid for doing something you enjoy.