I set my two(2) overnighters out on Wed. just be before the rain storms and I baited them with a mix of fresh fluke racks and some frozen chicken thighs. When I retuned to check them on Thursday morning, they were packed with crabs like opies on the Northwestern.
After scooping a few riders off the outside, I drug the traps to the water's edge where I dumped the crabs and netted back up the biggest Jimmies while allowing the females and smaller males to go free. Between the 2 traps, I easily put 2.5 dozen big Jimmies in the basket.
I then reset the emptied traps and walked to a few more areas nearby where it took all of 50 minutes for me to fill up the remainder of my bushel basket. I saw a lot of male/female pairs that I avoided netting, but I also found a bunch of big males locked in claw-to-claw combat ... sometimes in groups of 3-4 at a time. I have never found it so easy to scoop multiples of nice keepers as every patch of vegetation, every hole, and every semi-concealed area was crawling with crabs & most were big males scrapping with one another.
I dropped a few crabs off with a few friends & later after work, my friend, Mike, came over for a couple of Yuengling Black-n-Tans to sit and enjoy crabs with me. After gorging ourselves on the loose claws and legs, we each enjoyed a few of the biggest ones from the bunch. The crabs were full, tasty ... & quite possibly, the best I have eaten all year.
I sent Mike home with a nice box of crabs for his wife and kids to enjoy back at their house. The remainder are going to be picked and vac-sealed for later use as crab cakes, crab imperial, MD crab soup & crab dip. MMMMM!!!
What an awesome year of crabbing this has been!
- Gr8ful
50 Minute Bushel of Crabs:
Blackberry on Top As A Size Reference:
Bowl of Loose Claws/Legs:
Nice Haul from a Bushel:
Old Bay Light, Medium or Heavy?:
After scooping a few riders off the outside, I drug the traps to the water's edge where I dumped the crabs and netted back up the biggest Jimmies while allowing the females and smaller males to go free. Between the 2 traps, I easily put 2.5 dozen big Jimmies in the basket.
I then reset the emptied traps and walked to a few more areas nearby where it took all of 50 minutes for me to fill up the remainder of my bushel basket. I saw a lot of male/female pairs that I avoided netting, but I also found a bunch of big males locked in claw-to-claw combat ... sometimes in groups of 3-4 at a time. I have never found it so easy to scoop multiples of nice keepers as every patch of vegetation, every hole, and every semi-concealed area was crawling with crabs & most were big males scrapping with one another.
I dropped a few crabs off with a few friends & later after work, my friend, Mike, came over for a couple of Yuengling Black-n-Tans to sit and enjoy crabs with me. After gorging ourselves on the loose claws and legs, we each enjoyed a few of the biggest ones from the bunch. The crabs were full, tasty ... & quite possibly, the best I have eaten all year.
I sent Mike home with a nice box of crabs for his wife and kids to enjoy back at their house. The remainder are going to be picked and vac-sealed for later use as crab cakes, crab imperial, MD crab soup & crab dip. MMMMM!!!
What an awesome year of crabbing this has been!
- Gr8ful
50 Minute Bushel of Crabs:
Blackberry on Top As A Size Reference:
Bowl of Loose Claws/Legs:
Nice Haul from a Bushel:
Old Bay Light, Medium or Heavy?: