Crabbing Info

[MoparKevUk]

As I seem to spend plenty of hours re-rigging rods and putting on more bait for feeding fish than I do actually catching anything I was thinking of acquiring a crab pot as I am quite fond of crustaceans. Also when fishing Tingalpa Creek the park rangers have said not to eat any fish out of there as it's highly polluted. I assume a crab eats crap anyway so they should be ok to eat, am I right on that score? Anyway, I need to know EVERYTHING!! Cheapest place for chook frames, where to drop 'em, what type of trap is best, how often to pull them, what are the new legal sizes, what is "tipping", how to tell what crab I have and if it's a chick or not (Big carapace?), how to transport it home, what to do with it when I get home, how to cook it, what bits do I eat?

Thanks in advance, chaps!!

PS I've read the crabbing bit in me tide table book, so i know some of it;)

[MoparKevUk]

Portugal 2007: [img size=440]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/crabs1a.jpg

[Smiderman]

Here's somewhere to start

/>http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/dpi/hs.xsl/28_3065_ENA_HTML.htm

Not Real sure about tipping but I'm guessing that its where you've caught a under size crab and take its claws then throw the crab back..

PS only dingos do this . it makes it hard to defend them selves let alone feed. Given you cant take ginnies (females) you'll often catch them with 1 or 2 claws missing ... good clue to a "golden handshake". be warned though.. its real easy to tell the difference between male & female claws. (and its not just the size & shape)

I'd recommend that you learn to tie a crab if you want to transport them.(check you tube)

/>http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Bo7bQBfLk

Alternatively an old spud sack with a few leafy mangroves to keep them apart also works. Give them a dunking from time to time but don't leave them in the water particularly tied.

Best bet kill & clean them before you go home... less sh1t to clean up.

To kill then a knife blade in through the hoohoo and out the mouth with bit of a twist on the way through does the trick. .. all the blue jelly is its blood. if they drop a leg / claw or go birko you're getting close to the brain .. good thing

I like to clean them before I cook them.

To clean them you need to remove the carapace (top part of the shell) from the body by lifting the triangular flap underneath the crab, then flip the carapace off by pressing upwards with your thumbs at the same time downwards with your pointer fingers against its swimmers.

Once you've got its shell break the body into 2 halves. break off the feathery stuff & its mouth bit, then grab the claw & legs (one half) all in one hand and flick out all the guts etc. you dont want any of the yellow stuff to remain.

cook in salt water is best. bring water to the boil then chuck them in & wait for it to come to boil again then 10 minutes then empty into cold water. need a good fire. & a 5 gallon tin / boiler.

bait: mullet wrapped in that plastic gutter guard is good .. it slows them down.. forget the chooks. fish frames heads etc are all good. cat fish excellent & you dont need to wrap them in the gutter guard .. simply a bit of wire thru both eyes and tie it to the BOttom of the pot. Make sure the bait cant shift with the current too close to the entries or the sides of the pot otherwise they'll simply sample the bait from the outside

i find deep holes close to the bank with overhanging mangroves or mouths of little creeks.. The further into the mangroves the better as well. If you're deep into mangroves flats don't worry if the creek runs dry. (just limits when you run the pot.

if the crab is legal but light chuck it back. its probably just changed its shell and will be a "water bag" ie buggar all meat inside it.

best way to check is to squeeze the space between e the topside of their legs & the underside of its shell. if its flexible / dents easy chuck it.

quite often they're a greeny blueish colour just after they've thrown their shell again water bags. they go brown at the crabs condition / shell age improves. the darker the shell the better. barnicals etc real good.

let the pots sit for 3-4 hours at least.

ps if the crab latches on smash the claw.

pick them up with your thumb & pointer finger placed between swimmers & last legs either side. Pin them then down first so that you get a good grip

ginnies are generally more aggressive than the bucks.. no different to humans really.

done ... hope this helps