MD blue crabs...

Saw a price on a DOZEN jumbo's for $184 and $500 bushels... unbelievable.

I agree. It is outrageous this year, and frankly the last couple years.
I just get some chicken necks and go catch a couple dozen when I’m in the mood for them. I refuse to pay that.

Yep... figured my wife and I caught a K worth our last 2 trips out... bushel each time.

Come down to the gulf coast. Blue crabs are about $35 a bushel all day every day.

We are in NC visiting our son and have caught a few and boiled them just to try them. I can't imagine paying $180 for a dozen. That wouldn't satisfy 1 person for the size we ate. How big would jumbos measure?

6.5”-7”

But it really depends on what they are calling them, what some places call large other places call medium. And vice versa.

Did you clean them before you boiled them?

No we didnt clean them. Were we supposed to?

You can do it either way. Most people I know clean them first. The back plate comes off by pulling up on one of the points along the back edge. A garden hose removes the gunk inside. The crab stays whole, just without the back plate and the gunk inside and goes in the pot that way.

we prefer to steam them. I don't think it tastes any better but it's easier to get a half gallon of water boiling in the bottom of a big pot than it is getting 3 or 4 gallons boiling.

We crab several times a year and I have never figured out crab sizes. They're like women's dress sizes.

Gotcha. That makes sense.

Our were between 5 and 6 inches.

Back in the 80's when I lived just east of Baltimore, every friday night i would stop at a local crab house and pick up a dozen crabs boiled in old bay. Man they were good and not that expensive back then.

Back in the 80's when I lived just east of Baltimore, every friday night i would stop at a local crab house and pick up a dozen crabs boiled in old bay. Man they were good and not that expensive back then.

By the way, I tried something new last summer and I'm sticking with it. I ice the crabs for about 5 minutes before I clean them. My wife grew up on the banks of a salt marsh creek. I grew up a couple of miles from one but she lived there and crabbed in the back yard almost every day in the summer as a kid. She can clean 5 crabs to every one I clean. She never gets pinched. I'm not as brave as she is. Putting the crabs on ice really slows them down. Makes cleaning much easier. I can almost keep up with her now.

It's just the holiday 4th that's driving the price right now. Boiling is a deep south thing, nobody boils around here... all steamed.

They're running pretty well in the Potomac now...
Just need to find more friends to come eat some!

Trotline stoney?

Yessir. Running 1200' with bull lips. Lots of 6-7" crabs the last few weeks.
My boy loves to help size with me.

Yeah those are crazy prices, I wouldn't be able to swallow any at that price, lol
I'm getting $70 a bushel for #2's .

I am more of a stone crab guy

What do those cost? Scuba 1?

Stoney,
Lot of blue crab.What do you do with all of them? Do you sell them commercially to someone or can/freeze them?

A little patience ...... I have a couple of crap pots and when I want some stone crabs I gets home ponies with a cast net for bait , stick them on the crab pots hang them of the dock a day before I want to eat crabs and thats pretty much all there is to it.

Sorry to get impatient, I just wanted to learn about your crabbing.

I meant all they cost is a little patience.

Got it, thanks. Scuba 1.

Pretty much an automatic bushel when we go here in DE, but most of our crabs are 5-5 3/4", where Chesapeake Bay, Md crabs start at 5 3/4" on up to7+... we run 1200' snood lines too but use necks mostly.

Slick Pan,
I cannot sell crabs myself as I only have a recreational license.
I'm also not a fast enough picker to warrant steaming and freezing a large quantity. My wife loves having crab dip and crab cakes, and doesn't mind picking, so she will pick a pound of lump and backfin meat to freeze for later when we have an abundance.
Generally we try to crab on a Friday or maybe Saturday morning and invite as many people over as we can to share. Everyone enjoys eating a few or at least stopping by to socialize. I enjoy crabbing as much as trapping and would do it for fun even if I gave every crab away. Similar to trapping also, my marginal cost in going crabbing is limited to the bait I run plus fuel; all my gear and boat are already sunk costs.

We do have a fair amount of 6-7 inch crabs but can keep them at 5" during this time of the year.

Gosh I miss MD crab cakes!

And they say lobster is expensive.

How much is a bushel of lobster?

My wifes side of the family is from Maryland.Every other year we all rent a couple houses on the beach in North Carolina.Last year when we went her uncle from Maryland brought a couple bushels of Blue crabs,,and we had them with some steak and a bunch of other stuff.He asked me what do I think of them.I said,you can keep them,,im not much on wrestling tiny spiders to suck their guts out.Tomorrow I will get out the crabs I brought.The next day I broke out 20 lbs of Alaska King crabs.The BIG ones that are over a lb. each leg.Had them with some more steak and other stuff.Asked him what he thought.He says,,I never thought Id say this,,but THEM are crabs,,not the ones we have.LOLOL

They were selling them for $4.99/# on the coast of Maine a couple years ago when we went to Olsen's

Thanks, sawmill Creek.

You can look around and find them even cheaper right off the lobster
boats.