The Barney Family  

The blue crab is one of the more abundant and tasty macro invertebrates in the Eastern Coastal Waters. Recreational crabbing is a popular, relatively inexpensive, and family oriented outdoor activity that usually provides a tasty and nutritious meal. Although crabbing is less prominent than the saltwater fishing, it is an important component of marine recreation.

It is estimated that approximately one third of saltwater anglers have participated in recreational crabbing at least once a year.

Most people "crab" primarily "to catch crabs to eat", for others it is a "family or friends, food plus the outing", but the food is always the main reason. The prospects of a "crab supper" is a necessary component of the crabbing experience.

Regulations for recreational crabbing should be reviewed. Be advised that regulations may be different on refuges and wildlife management areas and vary from state to state.

Crabs can be caught at any time of the day, but there are some factors that may influence your catches.

• First, crabs may be more active early in the morning or late in the afternoon during hot weather.

 
• Second, tides may influence the feeding behavior of crabs. Catches are often better on a moving tide. During the last few hours of a falling tide crabs move out of flooded shoreline vegetation into open waters.<

Blue crabs can be caught throughout the Eastern Coast as they inhabit a wide variety of habitats from the high saline beaches to the low salinity marshes. Bobtailed boat fishermen can crab throughout the coast in bays, creeks, canals, and marshes. Areas suitable for shoreline crabbing are more limited due to the soft nature of the marsh and restricted highway access into the coastal marshes. Most effort expended by land based crabbers is adjacent to roads. Productive crabbing areas can easily be located by looking for other crabbers, although experienced crabbers can quickly locate the more productive spots even if they are unfamiliar with the area. Favorite sites for land based crabbers include water control structures, jetties, seawalls, wharfs, docks, bridges, and roadside canals. In general, areas with stagnant water are much less productive than areas with tidal water movements.

Numerous baits can be used to catch blue crabs, although some baits are superior. There are five different basic baits;

1   poultry: chicken or turkey necks, backs, or wings
2   fish: mackerel, shad
3   beef: suet,short ribs, tail or small soup bones
4   organs: hearts, kidneys, cow lips
5   eel cut into 4" sections

These baits are all used by land based crabbers. Chicken or turkey is the most common bait, the most efficient, and the least expensive. Fish is the second most common bait type, but the catch rate for this bait ranked next to last. The bait of choice for commercial trap fishermen is cow lips or shad.

A wide variety of gear and techniques can be used to harvest blue crabs. The gear and techniques that are utilized are dependent upon such factors as cost, size of desired catch, physical limitations of the habitat, amount of time to crab, and many other factors. Crabbing gear and methods range from the simple and inexpensive to the more complex and expensive.  The basic items needed to start are as follows; gloves to protect from pinches, a dip net made of nylon mesh, bait, a ventilated container to keep your catch in, a heavy cloth cover, and usally some type of bait.

Crab fishing doesn't require much skill or practice, although the more experienced fishermen are more successful. One important suggestion is to be patient because it may take some time for a crab to smell and find your bait. Additionally, blue crabs may not feed uniformly throughout the day, and a change in tide or weather may stimulate feeding.

The blue crab doesn't have a mouth and teeth in which to bite, however they are quick and can pinch with their claws. Although they seldom do more than draw a little blood, the pinch can momentarily be painful, but people have been known to get blood poisoning from a claw pinch if the the skin is broken, so always wear gloves.

It is important to learn how to handle a live crab with your hands. A crab must be held from the back, away from the snapping claws. But in order to get hold of it, you must first find a way to keep it still. Press lightly on the top shell with a stick. Use caution as too much pressure may crack the shell.

The thumbs should then be placed on top of the swimming paddle where it meets the shell and the forefinger is placed underneath where the swimming paddle meets the underbody. All of the other fingers are closed into the palm of the hand to keep them out of the way. Keep a firm grip on the crab. When it is held firmly, you can then pick it up without being bitten.

It is not possible for the crab to reach back and bite the fingers because of it's body configuration. If you are a little nervous, or the crab seems rather large and strong, use both hands, one on each swimming paddle to pick it up.

If possible, crabs should be kept alive. Crabs should never be placed in a container of water because they will suffocate when the dissolved oxygen is diminished. Crabs should be kept cool and moist. Crabs should be placed in a ventilated container with a moist cloth covering the top and should placed in the shade if possible. A bushel basket with a wet burlap sack or towel placed over the top is ideal . Crabs may also be stored on ice, although the crabs will die if kept there for an extended period of time.

A few words of caution, however, should be emphasized for potential crab cooks. First, don't cook a dead crab unless you caught it yourself and it died while on ice in your chest. Second, after boiling or steaming crabs, do not place them back in their original container, which may be contaminated with viruses and bacteria.

Crabbing methods range from simple and inexpensive to an elaborate investment of time and money. Before we catch we have to know how to hold the crab in the event one gets loose.

There are several methods of catching crabs each being different in nature. Click on the method listed below to learn the basics.