# Crabbing from shore???



## JoshMc

Is it possible to catch edible (<-- not sure if thats spelled correctly) crab from the shore? I've always heard that sometimes you can throw out a chicken leg or chicken neck attached to a line and they'll clamp onto it and you can ease them in slowly and net them? Is this true? and is there any other ways? Thanks!!!


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## Tuna Man

That is TRUE. Another way is to make/purchase crab traps. When you pull (from a pier or an overlooking structure) them up the crab is trapped in and can't get out. Have never crabbed the N Gulf but have for many years in both the Keys and Brunswick, GA. They make the traps and baskets (can crawl out of the baskets)

When in Brunswick, I was so poor (in the Navy) I would use necks and tie them to the bottom of the trap. When finished crabbing I'd remove them and throw them into the freezer. They were usable for a number of trips as I went out 3 to 5 days a week...solely for the food.


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## pogypumper

Keep in mind the limitfor crabbing from land is 20 crabs per harvester per day.


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## whipper snapper

we crab all summer, by walking the shore in different spots in the sound at night with lights and dip nets.


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## chasentail

my favorit way to crab from shore is a extremely cheap way of doing it. My father made something that doens't have a name. Take any 1/2 inch PVC pipe and cut it into peice depending on where you are crabbing they should range from 3 feet to 6 feet. Take the PVC pipe and cut a notch in both end drill a small hole next to one of the slits you cut..Attach any type of fishing stringe over 50 lb test or larger make the legnth of ur fishing line around 20 feet long and attach a large J or Circle Hook to the end that isn't tied to the whole u drilled...ONce u have completed that all u do is take the PVC pipe and jam it hard into the sand or mucky bottom hook any type of raw meet to the hook and check them every 20 or 30 mins and if there are crabs around they will be at the end of ur raw meet clamt on....THAT easy..extremly cheap..


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## bay slayer

You can go out and by a few crab baskets and then get some rope (and depending on how far out you want it)tie a bottle to the end of therope and then just sling it out there and then the bottle will float up so you know where it is then when you want to check it swim out and get it.


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## Gonnamissher

I have the cheap collaspable net basket from WalMart that I use on any dock. Tie a chicken neck (<$2 at Winn Dixie) to the bottom, let it sink and cinch it up quickly every 15 minutes or so. Check to see if it's a male or female, place your foot on the back of the crab, grab it's legs, tear them off and throw the crab intoa 5 gallon bucket. I throw all the females back and only keep the males. At first I didn't rip the legs off and ended up with a good old fashion Texas Death Match in the bucket.:banghead:banghead:banghead


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## SolarFlare

*Here's the crabbing info from MYFWC.com*

*Blue Crab Limits*<DIV align=center><CENTER>







<TABLE id=table36 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 height=106 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="95%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="12%">







</TD><TD vAlign=top width="40%">No Females With Eggs</TD><TD width="44%"></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="12%">







</TD><TD vAlign=top width="40%">No Size Limit</TD><TD width="44%"></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="12%">







</TD><TD vAlign=top width="40%">10 Gallons of Whole Blue Crabs Per Person, Per Day</TD><TD width="44%"></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="12%"></TD><TD vAlign=top width="40%"></TD><TD width="44%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV>

*Blue Crab Allowable Harvesting Gear*<UL><LI>Maximum of 5 blue crab traps per person as described in the summary of blue crab trapping rules below <LI>dip or landing net <LI>drop net <LI>fold up trap with a square base panel no larger than one foot square <LI>hook and line <LI>push scrape <LI>trotline </LI>[/list]

*Blue Crab Trapping Rules*<DIR><LI>Five trap maximum per person <LI>Buoy must have a legible ?R? at least two inches high, permanently affixed to it. Buoys are not required if trap is fished from a dock. <LI>Trap shall have harvesters name and address permanently affixed to it in legible letters. <LI>Traps must be pulled manually (not by a trap puller). Any vessel that is rigged with a trap puller will be considered a commercial vessel and the appropriate licenses will be required. <LI>Traps must be pulled only during daylight hours. <LI>Traps must not be placed in navigational channels of the intracoastal waterways, or in navigational channels maintained and marked by any county, municipal, state or federal governmental agency. <LI>No harvest allowed with any trap out of state waters (seaward of nine nautical miles from shore on the Gulf of Mexico or seaward of three nautical miles from shore on the Atlantic Ocean). <LI>A Florida recreational fishing license is required to harvest blue crabs under the recreational fishing regulations. <LI>Blue crab trap specifications are the same for recreational and commercial harvesters. Trap specifications may be found in Rule 68B-45.004, Florida Administrative Code. </LI></DIR>

*Can female blue crabs be harvested?*<DIR><LI>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. </LI></DIR><DIR></DIR>

<TABLE id=table38 cellSpacing=1 width="101%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="82%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## Fish on!

I have never really seriously caught crabs but we do for fun sometimes. Can someone tell me how to distinguish male and female?


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## jigslinger

Here's a link Fish On!:

http://www.bluecrab.info/identification.html


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## Boatjob1

Thanks Bay Pirate................ VERY helpful info..............


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## Fish on!

Thanks jigslinger 

wow its alot easieir than i was expecting it to be


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## JoshMc

Thanks for all the info guys!!!


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## Fedzilla

> *Fish on! (6/4/2008)*I have never really seriously caught crabs but we do for fun sometimes. Can someone tell me how to distinguish male and female?


I'm from Maryland, and my grandfather told me the best way to remember how to tell it the reae of the bottom of the crab "tail". The Male's looks like the Washington Monument, and the Female's looks like the Capitol Building.


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