Crabbing!

Some of my friends and I have rented a condo at Beachside II for the first week of June. I use to live in Plant City Florida as a child but haven?t been to the beach in a Looooooong time and have never been to Seagrove. I?m excited.

I?m really interested in going crabbing. I?ve never done it before and won?t have a boat. Does anyone have any advise about places to crab or what to use. Has anyone ever heard of the Crabhawk? Is it very productive to crab from land? ~kathryn

Sorry, no crabbing info to share, but !

I think I've seen info on this board about crabbing. Do a search. Crabbing is fun - - we used to do it as kids too.

Kathryn!


It appears that any crabbing experts are not paying attention today. Be patient, you'll get a bite soon...

Maybe this will be of some help.
http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=568&highlight=crabbing

I used to barehand nice blue crabs where the lake outlet met the Gulf on Grayton Beach. This would be much more efficient with a net. That said, I do not know if this is still possible after the outlet was affected during the storms.

Some of my friends and I have rented a condo at Beachside II for the first week of June. I use to live in Plant City Florida as a child but haven?t been to the beach in a Looooooong time and have never been to Seagrove. I?m excited.

I?m really interested in going crabbing. I?ve never done it before and won?t have a boat. Does anyone have any advise about places to crab or what to use. Has anyone ever heard of the Crabhawk? Is it very productive to crab from land? ~kathryn

Before you go crabbing, take a moment to learn the difference between male and female crabs. I believe it is illegal to take the females. More than that, I will open a can of whoop @ss on anyone I see taking tomorrow's harvest, ie- the females. ;-) One easy way to tell the females from the males is that the females have red colored claws (think nail polish as a reminder) while the males have blue claws. Also, if you flip the crabs over look for the Washington Monument shape on the abdomen of the males (that one should be easy to remember), and more of a blunt triangle shape on the females.










Also remember that you may need a fishing license. ;-)

SJ, I might be wrong, but I think taking the ladies is OK as long as they are not carrying eggs on their underside (Berry Crabs).

SJ, I might be wrong, but I think taking the ladies is OK as long as they are not carrying eggs on their underside (Berry Crabs).

You may be right. I cannot recall, so I just leave the females alone.

http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recbluecrab.htm

Can female blue crabs be harvested? Female blue crabs may be harvested lawfully if they are not bearing eggs. Although it is lawful to keep non-egg bearing female blue crabs, it is a conservation practice to release them unharmed. There has been evidence that the females support the population of the species. Male crabs are capable of mating several times, but females are only able to mate once, after they mature. If a juvenile female is harvested, there will be no chance that she will be able to reproduce. Additionally, mature females may store sperm in their bodies for several months after mating in order to spawn at a later date. If a mature female is harvested, though she may not exhibit eggs, there is no certainty that she has spawned. Releasing female blue crabs enhances reproductive capacity and population renewal.

http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recbluecrab.htm

Thanks, pgurney!

Yeah, poor sportsmanship to harvest females, egg-bearing or not. Easy enough to release them. If you're served females at a restuarant, be sure to raise a stink (that's one I won't live down with my friends anytime soon....)

SJ- the Washington Monument shape is how I also learned to differentiate the gender, and I also look for the "Capital Dome" shape on the females. Now, I learned to crab up in Maryland, so that must be the origin of the two shape names. We used to tie a chicken leg to a long cord and drop from bridges to crab back then. Now I just bait up my traps and plan a crab boil.

kimmifunn knows about crabs

kimmifunn knows about crabs

Whoa

The shoreline (here in Gulf County) was teeming with crabs, male and female today. I'd step into the water to try to get in and swim, and the crabs would dart here and there, menacingly raising their claws. I was a little freaked out!
I've seen a crab or two before, but nothing like this.
The water was also thick with schools of little minnows; were the crabs getting some live prey?

The shoreline (here in Gulf County) was teeming with crabs, male and female today. I'd step into the water to try to get in and swim, and the crabs would dart here and there, menacingly raising their claws. I was a little freaked out!
I've seen a crab or two before, but nothing like this.
The water was also thick with schools of little minnows; were the crabs getting some live prey?

Mating season.

Mating season.

Afternoon Delight

Afternoon Delight

Mating season.

Thanks Kurt. Aw, I didn't know they were getting frisky in there.
Hope I didn't disturb them too much.

Thanks Kurt. Aw, I didn't know they were getting frisky in there.
Hope I didn't disturb them too much.

I wouldn't worry about it CIL since it is mating "SEASON" (Gosh, wouldn't that be bad if we as humans just had a "SEASON" for such?) I am sure they got back to business pretty fast if you did disturb them. ;-)

You can just walk through thr water and scoop them up with a net. Or you can get a peace of Chicken (Rotten is better) and tie a piece of string to it and sit and wait. Then pull the chicken back in SLOWLY and scoop the Crab up. We caught about 50 in crab traps this weekend but someone stole all but 5 of them. We're watching for you!!!!!

You can just walk through thr water and scoop them up with a net. Or you can get a peace of Chicken (Rotten is better) and tie a piece of string to it and sit and wait. Then pull the chicken back in SLOWLY and scoop the Crab up. We caught about 50 in crab traps this weekend but someone stole all but 5 of them. We're watching for you!!!!!

That's how we did it in the "olden" days...tie a chicken neck to a string!!!