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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Posts: 4523
City/Region: Madison
State or Province: WI
C-Dory Year: 2009
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: C-Traveler
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 10:02 pm    Post subject: Florida Crabbing Reply with quote

After another cruise on the St. John's River dodging crab pot floats I got to wondering if it would be worth my time during my annual vacations down here at the C-Brats gathering and cruising afterwards, to put out a couple of crab cages? I'm an out of state resident, and very much enjoyed catching Dungeness Crab when I was up in Alaska a few years ago. I still have a crab ring, but it may be to large for the Blue Crabs here in Florida. And ideally I'd rather get a collapsible pot anyway. I've only briefly reviewed some of the regulation for Blue and Stone Crabs, but interested in more information from somebody that actually crabs down here. TIA. Colby
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PaulNBriannaLynn



Joined: 26 Oct 2012
Posts: 757
City/Region: Fort White
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: TBD
Photos: Lorelei
PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Colby, we loved catching Dungeness living in the northwest, so it was only natural to get into crabbing when we moved down here. Ill just give my observations and you can take from it what you want....

First on gear. The pots that fish the best have two chambers. The crabs crawl inside the 4 openings on the bottom and eventually find their way to the top story and cant get out. I believe these pots are called Maryland commercial pots. Theyre pretty large, but you can pull enough crabs to make your fingers raw from a single pot if left overnight. In Georgia the current rips from the massive tide swings, so the pots are weighted with rebar on the bottom. Probably not necessary on the St John but maybe on the ICW.

Bait doesn't seem to matter as long as its fatty. I've used left over bbq, steak fat, managers special chicken thighs, turkey skin and bones... as long as it will produce a bit of grease in the water the crabs will come. One of the differences from the Dungeness fishing is once you've pulled the pot down here, the bait is rancid. The water temps around the PNW are cold enough not to spoil the bait. That was quite the shock the first time I pulled a pot and spilled rotten chicken water all over the cockpit. Now I try and dump the bait before bringing the pot onboard.

On species, the stone crab are the tastiest, but also the most elusive. We catch those in the summer when the temps are the hottest. I got a feeling you wont see any of those unless your much further south in the Keys or south Florida in Winter. You're asked to just take one of the claws so they can live to see another day and grow the claw back. I didnt know this the first time I caught one in Savannah and received a ration of scorn from folks that knew better. Its not a law but its a widely accepted practice. Blue crab are much more plentiful. When the water is warm, blue crab are extremely fast and have powerful claws. When I was learning, I tried to handle one the way I did Dungeness and learned a hard lesson. The crab pinched all the way through my thumb nail into the bone. The boat was a blood bath and Im sure people heard my yelping from miles away. Now this is my technique: After dumping the bait over the side, I bring the trap into the cockpit and have the lid of the cooler open. I open the door of the trap shake vigorously until all the crabs have fallen into the cooler on ice. After they've been in there for a 15 minutes or longer, they've gotten cold and they are now slow enough to handle like dungeness. Nows the time to throw the small ones overboard. There is little meat in even the big ones, so keeping the smaller ones is not worth it in my opinion. Im not sure the legality of bringing them into the cooler, but after having my thumb wrecked by one of these things, Ill take my chances with the fish cops. Im not sorting them until they've chilled out a little bit.

Hope this helps!

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starcrafttom



Joined: 07 Nov 2003
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City/Region: marysville
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 1984
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember as a kid in Maryland hand lining for blue crab. Just a string with a chicken neck. You pulled them up and caught them with a dip net just as they get to the surface. The local crab boats that ran trot lines did not use pots at all. You just ran a mile of line with bait tied ever 20 ft. With both ends still weighted you pulled the line up to the boat and over a roller or pole in the side of the boat. As you drive forward the line picks up off the bottom with the crab holding on, as the crab gets to the boat you scoop it with small net and toss it in the boat. Run a mile of line at a "trot" and end up with a boat load of crab. a lot of people used to make a decent living doing that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C61QgdAybA
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thataway



Joined: 02 Nov 2003
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City/Region: Pensacola
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colby,
My feeling it is not worth "investing" in crabbing gear in Fl. There are registrations requirements, (assignment of a number), license for out of state, and the St. John's is closed (for the most part) during Even numbered years.

Some of my neighbors crab behind their houses in the Perdido Bay Area. They will have one or two pots. What you saw for the most part were commercial crabbers. They don't necessarily pull the pots each day.

I gave away my AK pots--not suitable for FL use.

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Thataway
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DayBreak



Joined: 16 Jul 2017
Posts: 838
City/Region: Monmouth, Or.
State or Province: OR
C-Dory Year: 2018
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

starcrafttom wrote:
I remember as a kid in Maryland hand lining for blue crab. Just a string with a chicken neck. You pulled them up and caught them with a dip net just as they get to the surface. The local crab boats that ran trot lines did not use pots at all. You just ran a mile of line with bait tied ever 20 ft. With both ends still weighted you pulled the line up to the boat and over a roller or pole in the side of the boat. As you drive forward the line picks up off the bottom with the crab holding on, as the crab gets to the boat you scoop it with small net and toss it in the boat. Run a mile of line at a "trot" and end up with a boat load of crab. a lot of people used to make a decent living doing that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C61QgdAybA


Thanks Tom. That was a fun youtube watching those kids experience the catch of Blue Crab on the East Coast. Not sure if we will ever do crabbing there but enjoyed the video. Quite different in the catch of Dungeness on the West Coast.

Those kids were sure enjoying the great outdoors!

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starcrafttom



Joined: 07 Nov 2003
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City/Region: marysville
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah I was just 10 to 13 when we lived there and we loved boating. Its really what got me into it. Lived there 4 years then off to arlington texas... Nice but no salt water.
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