Mid bay crabbing spots?

[frettr00]

I'd like to try crabbing from my kayak since we're in prime season right now. What are some good mid bay areas for crabbing?

[muldoon]

See a lot of guys crabbing near the shipping creek ramp on kent island. Never crabbed there but it looks like a good area, good for a kayak too, calm protected water.

[frettr00]

Anyone try the SPSP marina/pond? I've seen people crabbing off the docks there too.

[Shady]

Im crabbing tomorrow from jonas green park in the Severn. Let me know if you want to meet up. I've had pretty decent luck there in the past, but have not been in a while.

[frettr00]

Im crabbing tomorrow from jonas green park in the Severn. Let me know if you want to meet up. I've had pretty decent luck there in the past, but have not been in a while.

I'm going to have to shop around for some crab traps/bait and a basket since I don't have any gear. Next weekend might be better. I did manage to catch a few on my fishing line while I was bottom fishing recently, but that's not really practical.

[jsquare]

Buddy of mine has been doing well in the backwaters around Pasadena, which would be the Magothy river. He has been running traps and trot lines out of a small boat and he said they did pretty well just netting them off the pilings.

Pick up a crab net with your other supplies so you can scoop the easy pickings off the pilings.

[Shady]

Basspro has a pretty good price on topless foxymate traps last time I checked. I can help you out with rigging them up if you need some tips. They come unrigged, so you have to add your own main line and float.

[frettr00]

I'll stop by Outdoor World tomorrow and see what they have. I'll probably get 2-3 traps at most, can't imagine fitting any more into my kayak with a basket and net as well...

[muldoon]

the topless traps nest/stack together very nicely. I bet you could take a stack of five or maybe even ten. We usually put them in a straight line maybe 100 feet apart in about 8-10 feet of water, pull each one in order down the line and then go back to the top and do it again, and again, and again...

[MetroMan]

I can easily stack 10 behind me in the torque. Perfect fit back there!

[Shady]

I stack five short box traps in my stern well and instead of a basket I just throw the crabs in the same cooler I use for fish. I put frozen water bottles in the cooler to keep the crabs chill and out of water in the bottom of the cooler. The ice slows the crabs down so they are not so wild in the tight quarters of the kayak. If crabs sit in the bottom of the cooler in the water they will drown.

Since I only have 5 traps I usually set them in a line spreading them about 30 feet apart and fish for 15-20 minutes in between checking them.

Today I had my best day crabbing from the kayak yet with 26 solid muddy crabs and also caught about 20 white Perch 8-10 inches. I've been catching the best crabs in 12-14 feet. Im wondering if I had longer main lines, maybe it would be even better in deeper water.

[frettr00]

Well if you look at what the commercial crabbers do, they tend to always have their traps set in around 13-15ish feet of water, or usually near the edge of channels before it gets deep. I have gotten crabs in deeper water, but for some reason I always see the traps down in the shallows.

[frettr00]

I can easily stack 10 behind me in the torque. Perfect fit back there!

That's cool. I don't have any special compartments (other than a bow storage area). What I"ll end up doing is instead of bringing my crate pack, i'll just have the traps stacked where I usually keep that. I could just chuck crabs into my bow storage area then pull them out one at at a time when I'm back at launch. I have armored gloves so grabbing them by hand isn't an issue.

[bdwilliams]

I've been wanting to try this too. I bought a few topless crab traps and am still working on a way to hold the crabs securely. I'm thinking a kitty litter bucket (with top) set between my legs but it seems awkward in the garage. Not sure if it'll work...

[Shady]

bdwilliams,
You can probably use the method that you described to hold the crabs, but I would put frozen water bottles in the bottom of the bucket for the crabs to sit on top of and make sure to cover the top of the crabs with a damp towel or burlap. If the crabs are just sitting in the bottom of the bucket, unless you constantly empty the water, they will die. I also think you are better off not using the lid in order to keep the airflow high.