Anyone ever been crab fishing?

[84gmcjimmy]

I am going down to the island (victoria) and may be going crab fishing if we have time. Has anyone done it? My parents used to before they had my sister and I. I love fresh meat /forums/images/graemlins/woot.gif

 

[K5Kell]

You mean with a pot right? I do this quite abit both in Ballingham and further south by Tacoma. It's hard to beat the taste of fresh dungeness meat /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif.
-Kell-

 

[mudhog]

actually they have a trap you put on a fishing poll and cast out it has a center ring for the bait with four slide loops on it that when you set the hook and real really fast Cathe's there legs and you can real them up /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[K5Kell]

Is this similar to the traps that are pyramid shaped that lay flat on the bottom but when you pull the line the sides pull up and trap whatever is on the bait in the middle? Either way how deep do you run them? My roomate just rigged up a line puller on his boat so we can pull up long lines easy, at school we are gonna live off crabs, prawns and whatever else comes from down below(maybe another shark like the one I posted in the fish you've caught post /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif).
-Kell-

 

[mudhog]

they are kinda like this one but smaller

 

[84gmcjimmy]

I think you sink it to the bottom, thats where they usually are I think. Except where I am doing it, we just cast it off of the dock thing. So its not as deep as if you werre in a boat in deeper water.

 

[Thunder]

I use a crab ring when fishing off piers or rocks. They are cheap and work good.

you put dead fish in the middle of the small ring. Drop it to the bottom wait a while, then haul it up fast with a crab or two in it. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
When I go fishing out on my boat I drop a small crab pot or two in deeper water on the way out and pick it up full of crabs (i hope) on the way back in.
Mmmmmm Fresh Crab!

 

[84gmcjimmy]

How big of crabs do you usually get? I love crab... none of that "imitation crab" sh!t!

 

[justwhatido]

We usually put a crab trap or two out when at the beach house. Easy way to do it. But, when I was little we would tie something for bait (chicken, old fish carcass)to a cotton cord along with something for weight(old spark plug works well). Leave it down for a while then slowly pull it up (the crab is greedy and will hang on)then before it lets go and swims off, scoop under it with a long handled net.
this is much more entertaining.

/forums/images/graemlins/pimp1.gif

Fred

 

[84gmcjimmy]

Wow that would be hard though! What if none of the crabs stayed clinged to it and just let go?

 

[Thunder]

There is a minium size in Calif where I fish for Dungness crab its 5 3/4" across the shell.
for other crabs its 4". We keep all over the minimum size
Dont know what the regs are in BC.Before you fish for crab you should check the local regulations before taking any.

LOL I caught a lot of crabs with the string and dead fish method when I was a kid. Yur right! It is entertaning. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Used to spend many a summers day down at the harbor when I. was a kid

 

[84gmcjimmy]

LOL... that string idea sounds funny.

Yeah when we are down there we will check the size limit and all. Thanks for the help /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[K5Kell]

When I was younger we would fill old socks with whatever rotten food we had and the crabs would hang on with no problem. These days I'm lazy, set the pot check in a few hours and plenty of crab for the week(4-8 good size dunges).
-Kell-

 

[84gmcjimmy]

woah! How big was the pot you used to catch them /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

 

[K5Kell]

The pots are roughly a three foot square by about a foot and a half tall. just the common size pot at your local marine store.
-Kell-

 

[84gmcjimmy]

ooh ic... sorry we don't have marine stores here /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif
ooo I am getting excited.. I haven't had FRESH crab for 3 years now /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif

 

[K5Kell]

Yeah, crab meat is one of the best meats. Personal favorite is to melt butter and simmer it with crushed up garlic then dip the crab in it. if you havent tried this its definitley worth trying /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif.
-Kell-

 

[84gmcjimmy]

The butter and garlic thing is what I do with scallops and prawns, but ours is super garlic, my family loves garlic so I usually put a lot in,,, haven't tried it with crab though... this time I will /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[jakeslim]

can you "fish" for crabs? /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

 

[dubl_t]

That's kinda what they're talking about. Not fishing like for gamefish because crabs are scavengers/bottom feeders.