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Blue Crab Trapping Help #6579041
07/22/19 01:26 PM
07/22/19 01:26 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,125
B61-12 vicinity, MO
T
TreedaBlackdog Offline OP
trapper
TreedaBlackdog  Offline OP
trapper
T

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,125
B61-12 vicinity, MO
Headed down to Alabama next month for vacation and staying at a place where we can fish and catch some crabs. What is the simplest way to catch some blue crabs? I know nothing about catching them but saw several a couple of years ago when we were there.

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579050
07/22/19 01:47 PM
07/22/19 01:47 PM
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 204
Belhaven, North Carolina
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trapperdan93 Offline
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trapperdan93  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 204
Belhaven, North Carolina
Get you a roll of string and some chicken necks or legs, backs, etc. Cheapest thing you can find. Take you a 10ft or so length of string, tie your bait on, and throw it overboard. Tie your line off to a piland or whatever is handy. When the line comes tight you've got a crab on. Slowly pull it in, dip it with a net, repeat. I've had best luck next to bulkheads in 2-3' of water. Good luck!

P.S.- Minnow dip nets with a long handle work best for me when dipping crabs. Crabs get tangled all to heck in landing nets meant for fish.

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579083
07/22/19 02:50 PM
07/22/19 02:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 477
Alabama
K
KB64 Offline
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KB64  Offline
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K

Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 477
Alabama
Get the 2 ring crab nets that lie flat. Tie a piece of chicken in the middle and ease it straight up when a crab enters it. I wouldn't but a big basket for jyst a weekend.

Hit me up if you need more info, we have a place down there (Baldwin Co)

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: KB64] #6579153
07/22/19 05:14 PM
07/22/19 05:14 PM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,986
Shenandoah County, VA
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l1ranger Offline
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l1ranger  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,986
Shenandoah County, VA
Originally Posted by KB64
Get the 2 ring crab nets that lie flat. Tie a piece of chicken in the middle and ease it straight up when a crab enters it. I wouldn't but a big basket for jyst a weekend.

Hit me up if you need more info, we have a place down there (Baldwin Co)



this - do it everytime i get near the ocean.
something like this - will run you about 1 to 5 bucks a piece depending on where you get them


[Linked Image]

Last edited by l1ranger; 07/22/19 05:15 PM.

Josh
Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579164
07/22/19 05:47 PM
07/22/19 05:47 PM
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,034
SE Kansas
K
K52 Online content
trapper
K52  Online Content
trapper
K

Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,034
SE Kansas
When I was a kid we caught blue crabs in the Pearl river in Logtown, Mississippi. Took fish heads, a big steel nut and a string run through where the fish eyes had been. Lowered the string till a crab latched on then pulled up slow and dip netted him. Equipment and bait doesn't get any cheaper than that.

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579168
07/22/19 06:03 PM
07/22/19 06:03 PM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 10,769
Asheville, NC
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charles Offline
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charles  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 10,769
Asheville, NC
Fresh bait, not spoiled.

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579185
07/22/19 06:54 PM
07/22/19 06:54 PM
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
maintenanceguy Offline
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maintenanceguy  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
As was already said: The two easiest and cheapest options are double ring traps or hand lines.

Chicken is the cheapest and easiest bait. Buy the cheap stuff. Some butchers near salt water box chicken necks just for crabbers. They are tough enough that the crabs don't just tear them apart. Bunker is a good bait but is awfully soft and gets lost easily.

If using hand lines, pull in each line very slowly every 10 minutes or so. 5 lines will keep a kid busy full time. scoop up any crabs that are hanging on with a net before they reach the surface of the water and let go. Go slow and don't move much. Crabs are skiddish.

Open top traps like the cheap double ring traps - same method. wiretie or otherwise secure bait to the bottom of the trap and about every 10 minutes, pull it in fast so the crab can't climb out. Crabs are quicker than you would think.

A pair of crab tongs helps. Not everyone is comfortable reaching in and grabbing a crab that doesn't want to be grabbed.

And keep your crabs out of water. If you put your crabs in a 5 gallon bucket of water, they will use up the oxygen and drown. Wooden crab baskets are great. So are those round, plastic laundry baskets. I usually just use a 5 gallon bucket.

Do not keep them on ice, they will die. I do ice them for 5 minutes before cleaning them. It slows them down enough that I'm not going to get pinched. My wife grew up on a salt marsh. She can clean 5 crabs for every 1 I clean. I don't even clean them any more. She does and I'm in charge of hosing the gunk out of them.


-Ryan
Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579402
07/23/19 12:52 AM
07/23/19 12:52 AM
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,570
N. Carolina
S
Scout1 Offline
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Scout1  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,570
N. Carolina
I was actually considering buying a collapsible trap for when we go to the beach. Crab is one of my favorite seafoods!


-------------------------------------
DJT & MTG in 2024!
Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: K52] #6579470
07/23/19 07:11 AM
07/23/19 07:11 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,253
Port Republic South Jersey
N
Newt Offline
trapper
Newt  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,253
Port Republic South Jersey
Originally Posted by K52
When I was a kid we caught blue crabs in the Pearl river in Logtown, Mississippi. Took fish heads, a big steel nut and a string run through where the fish eyes had been. Lowered the string till a crab latched on then pulled up slow and dip netted him. Equipment and bait doesn't get any cheaper than that.



There you go.


South Jersey Trapping and Snaring School
January 19-20-21 2024
NEWT -----------------OVER----------------









www.snareone.com
Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579484
07/23/19 08:09 AM
07/23/19 08:09 AM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,125
B61-12 vicinity, MO
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TreedaBlackdog Offline OP
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TreedaBlackdog  Offline OP
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,125
B61-12 vicinity, MO
It may sound silly to you all, but I am excited to catch my first crabs....we saw some two years ago when we were swimming in the ocean. This year we are staying at a house on the water with its own pier so I have to have some rigging and traps for myself and the kids. With the two ring traps, do you just leave them out flat and then just pull up blindly every so often. Or, is there an indicator you have a crab feeding on the bait?

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579542
07/23/19 09:36 AM
07/23/19 09:36 AM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,986
Shenandoah County, VA
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l1ranger Offline
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,986
Shenandoah County, VA
pull em up blindly ever so often.

if you are in them, every 5 minutes or so is a good time....if its a little slower, 10 to 15 minutes.


good notes on keeping them from maintenance guy - i keep mine in a wooden bushel basket, in the shade if possible, with a wet towel over them


Josh
Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579624
07/23/19 12:37 PM
07/23/19 12:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,125
B61-12 vicinity, MO
T
TreedaBlackdog Offline OP
trapper
TreedaBlackdog  Offline OP
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,125
B61-12 vicinity, MO
this might be dumb - but what areas should I try to find them? will they be near the fishing pier behind the house we are staying at on Dauphin Island - located on the north side of the island - I think its actually called the Mississippi sound. I think last time we actually saw a commercial crabber running traps out a hundred yards or so off the Gulf side of Dauphin Island. Are they found in shallower water? What kind of structure or sand bottom beaches?

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579668
07/23/19 01:52 PM
07/23/19 01:52 PM
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,034
SE Kansas
K
K52 Online content
trapper
K52  Online Content
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,034
SE Kansas
Walk out on the pier and drop lines.

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579729
07/23/19 03:54 PM
07/23/19 03:54 PM
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 151
Fl
C
chains Offline
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chains  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 151
Fl
Try some Star Traps. Line and a Net with chichen or mullet is the best

Re: Blue Crab Trapping Help [Re: TreedaBlackdog] #6579744
07/23/19 04:43 PM
07/23/19 04:43 PM
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
maintenanceguy Offline
trapper
maintenanceguy  Offline
trapper

Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
Assuming that the water is salty enough, crabs are everywhere. Like all creatures, they like to be near stuff. Crabbing off a pier is great. I don't know Alabama's crabbing laws but commercial pots (as opposed to traps) will let you crab all night without having to do anything. Pots can be pricey. The best ones have two levels with a "downstairs" and an "upstairs" level. Crabs enter through funnels into the downstairs, and naturally swim up to try to escape becoming trapped in the upper level. They could get out by just going back the way they got in but crabs aren't especially smart. I've bought used pots in good condition on craigslist for $15 each and I have a few I've bought new for around $50 each.

Every day crabbing is different but If we set out half a dozen pots on Friday night, I'll pull in 3 or 4 dozen crabs Saturday afternoon.


-Ryan
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