Crabbing questions

[justeric]

Hi All,

Has anyone had any lucking crabbing this season? What depths should be productive giving Mother Natures current condition? Where can I buy chicken necks (today)? Any general areas that you would recommend crabbing? Anyone crabbing tomorrow that would let me tag along?

Thanks,
Eric

[justeric]

Update... I looked all over the place and finally found chicken necks at Lotte Grocery Store in the Golden Triangle shopping center at Rt 40 and 29 in Howard County Maryland. Lotte is an Asian market. $2.50/Pound.

I didn't get myself prepared in time to go crabbing this weekend. I think I have everything ready now though.

I'm still looking for suggestions on:
Is there a best depth to crab with the current water temps?
Do the crabs move to shallow water during the night and migrate to deeper water as the sun comes up?
Are there best tides to crab?
Does the moon have anything to do with crabbing? Someone told me they crabs sluff on full moons so you pick up a lot if light crabs after full moons.
Is the crabbing doing well in the Severn?
Are the best places to crab in the back bays and creeks? I noticed that there were crab pots outside of Sandy Point State Park south of the bridge. I suspect there would be good crabbing there but maybe the current and swells would adversely affect your ability to crab?
Any question I didn't ask but should have?

Thanks,
Eric

[john from md]

See this thread.

http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...ble-crab-traps

[rugbyfish]

My wife and I went out for about 5 hours yesterday and managed 19 keepers using collapsible traps with chicken necks. They were caught anywhere from 5-9 feet of water. Not spectacular by any stretch, but more than enough for a meal for the two of us. From everything I've heard, crabbing on the western shore has been very slow. We were on the eastern shore yesterday.

[Jman]

Nice report - 19 keepers in traps is a great meal!

@justeric to answer some of your questions:

Chicken necks -Richardson Farms in Baltimore County has them at the poultry counter. It was $7.50 for a little over 9 Lbs (3 bags), plus they're already at a good size. I only needed one bag to bait a 600' line.

Depth - 4-12'ish. It depends on a lot of other factors too, which is why a lot of people lay their lines or pots across different contours or try different depths to see what's working that day.

Tides - Moving.

Location - It depends. Sometimes the creeks/back areas are better because there is less boat traffic or less commercial pots. You might find that one day a spot is great and the next day you didn't see one crab there.

I ran 600' CN on the Severn on Saturday and only caught one crab the entire time (6.5"). The commercial crabber only had 6 when he left after running 1000' and checking pots.

Are you running traps or a line?

[justeric]

Nice report - 19 keepers in traps is a great meal!

@justeric to answer some of your questions:

Chicken necks -Richardson Farms in Baltimore County has them at the poultry counter. It was $7.50 for a little over 9 Lbs (3 bags), plus they're already at a good size. I only needed one bag to bait a 600' line.

Depth - 4-12'ish. It depends on a lot of other factors too, which is why a lot of people lay their lines or pots across different contours or try different depths to see what's working that day.

Tides - Moving.

Location - It depends. Sometimes the creeks/back areas are better because there is less boat traffic or less commercial pots. You might find that one day a spot is great and the next day you didn't see one crab there.

I ran 600' CN on the Severn on Saturday and only caught one crab the entire time (6.5"). The commercial crabber only had 6 when he left after running 1000' and checking pots.

Are you running traps or a line?

When I was heading home on Saturday at about 11am I noticed a kayaker crabbing when I drove over the Rt 50 bridge. It was on the North side of the bridge on the East side of the river. I was wondering how they were doing.

I am going to be using a 600 yard trot line with chicken necks. I think I have everything set up and ready to go. I am considering crabbing at the Piney Point SMOG this Saturday instead of fishing.

When you see the commercial crabber only walking away with 6 crabs you know its "Our" problem not "Your" problem.

Thanks to you and everyone for your helpful suggestions.

Eric