Crab pot advice

bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
I need some help from you experienced watermen (and women) A helpful forumite gave me a crab pot last year (thanks, Unix). I had pretty good luck with it - normally between 1/2 or a dozen crabs every week. Nothing spectacular, but free crabs are free crabs, and I happily steamed them.

This year - almost nothing. I've used alewives and chicken necks, and I have steamed a grand total of 3 crabs this year. I've watched other people at my marina pull out a dozen in their pots, so I know the crabs are in the water somewhere. They just aren't going in my pot.

I'm in Town creek, just down from the Boatel. Pot is in about 7ft of water, give or take a few feet with the tides. Should I look for shallower, or deeper water? Alewives, chicken necks, or something else? After I bait it, how many days should I leave the pot in before I expect to see some crabs in it? I don't have time to run to the dock every day.

Help!
 
Agee

Agee

Well-Known Member
bohman said:
I need some help from you experienced watermen (and women) A helpful forumite gave me a crab pot last year (thanks, Unix). I had pretty good luck with it - normally between 1/2 or a dozen crabs every week. Nothing spectacular, but free crabs are free crabs, and I happily steamed them.

This year - almost nothing. I've used alewives and chicken necks, and I have steamed a grand total of 3 crabs this year. I've watched other people at my marina pull out a dozen in their pots, so I know the crabs are in the water somewhere. They just aren't going in my pot.

I'm in Town creek, just down from the Boatel. Pot is in about 7ft of water, give or take a few feet with the tides. Should I look for shallower, or deeper water? Alewives, chicken necks, or something else? After I bait it, how many days should I leave the pot in before I expect to see some crabs in it? I don't have time to run to the dock every day.

Help!
Click to expand...

Try another location, watermen normally place theirs right on the edge of a channel. Your choices of bait are good, crabs are attracted to about anything that's decaying. Is the pot in the creek that leads to the Boatel? Is there good tidal flow?
 
aps45819

aps45819

24/7 Single Dad
Make sure the entry holes are lined up parallel to the shore line.
-->[]<--
________


.... and not on the bottom of the pot :lol:
 
unixpirate

unixpirate

Pitty Party
bohman said:
I need some help from you experienced watermen (and women) A helpful forumite gave me a crab pot last year (thanks, Unix). I had pretty good luck with it - normally between 1/2 or a dozen crabs every week. Nothing spectacular, but free crabs are free crabs, and I happily steamed them.

This year - almost nothing. I've used alewives and chicken necks, and I have steamed a grand total of 3 crabs this year. I've watched other people at my marina pull out a dozen in their pots, so I know the crabs are in the water somewhere. They just aren't going in my pot.

I'm in Town creek, just down from the Boatel. Pot is in about 7ft of water, give or take a few feet with the tides. Should I look for shallower, or deeper water? Alewives, chicken necks, or something else? After I bait it, how many days should I leave the pot in before I expect to see some crabs in it? I don't have time to run to the dock every day.

Help!
Click to expand...


Cut little slices in the fish to make it decay faster. The more the decayed the better. No need to check them everyday. More like 3-5 days.

Also do everything else people have told you in this thread. So get busy. :lol:

Good Luck, I'll be waiting for the invite when your pot is hooked up at the end of the week. :buddies:
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
Thanks, everybody. I'll try these ideas. I assume that beef lips are sold in any bait shop just like chicken necks?

unixpirate said:
Good Luck, I'll be waiting for the invite when your pot is hooked up at the end of the week. :buddies:
Click to expand...

If I can get more than 2 crabs at a time, you'll be the first to know. :yay:
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
unixpirate said:
More expensive, but last longer in the pot :yay:
Click to expand...

That's my complaint about the chicken. Seems to attract more crabs, but it's always gone in a day. That's what happened last week: 2 crabs picked away the whole package in a day.

They sure did taste good, though.
 
C

Crow Bait

New Member
Ok...You've gotten some bad advice and some good advice in this thread.

Step 1, Fully inspect the crab pot. make sure the entrance holes are open, and make sure there are no holes, and make sure the lid stays shut.

Report back...
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
Crow Bait said:
Ok...You've gotten some bad advice and some good advice in this thread.

Step 1, Fully inspect the crab pot. make sure the entrance holes are open, and make sure there are no holes, and make sure the lid stays shut.

Report back...
Click to expand...

Check, check, and check. Now what? Which advice did you think was good, and bad?
 
C

Crow Bait

New Member
The advice about rotten bait was bad advice.

Crabs are scavengers, but they like a fresh meal.

Bait the pot with fresh bait EVERY day. Discard the bait from the previous day. It will be rancid in just a few hours during the hottest part of the summer.

Also, find out what kind of bait your neighbor is using.
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
Crow Bait said:
Crabs are scavengers, but they like a fresh meal.
Click to expand...

If this is correct, then I know what my problem is. I got accustomed to the crabs quickly eating ALL of the bait last year. This year, with fewer crabs in the pot, some of the alwives were WAY past their prime. But I didn't clean it out, I figured crabs eat dead stuff, right? Why bother?
 
bohman

bohman

Well-Known Member
Well, I'm doing a little better. Cleaned everything up and put in some fresh chicken on Friday afternoon. By yesterday, it appeared that at one point I had 4 crabs in the pot, which is double what I've managed to do previously! I only got to eat two of them, because the 3 large crabs killed & ate a smaller one, and I tossed a female back into the water.

I got a surprise when I put the bait in on Friday - when I pulled up the pot, there were 6 fish in it! I don't really know my species around here, but I'll guess and call them some variety of perch. There was no bait in the pot at the time, any guesses as to why they congregated in there? If I'd had some way to take them home, it would have been a nice fish dinner.
 
M

Mrs. Hap

New Member
bohman said:
Well, I'm doing a little better. Cleaned everything up and put in some fresh chicken on Friday afternoon. By yesterday, it appeared that at one point I had 4 crabs in the pot, which is double what I've managed to do previously! I only got to eat two of them, because the 3 large crabs killed & ate a smaller one, and I tossed a female back into the water.

I got a surprise when I put the bait in on Friday - when I pulled up the pot, there were 6 fish in it! I don't really know my species around here, but I'll guess and call them some variety of perch. There was no bait in the pot at the time, any guesses as to why they congregated in there? If I'd had some way to take them home, it would have been a nice fish dinner.
Click to expand...

Maybe you had no bait left because the fish ate the bait. :razz:
 
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