Crabbing with Erick

Dinner with Erick after a hard day of Fishing and Crabbing

When is a good time to Crab .,., any time.

What does Hard-shell vs Soft-shell Crabs mean?

Beginning in September, crabs tend to be more “filled out,” meaning they contain a higher percentage of quality meat. The meat’s quality can be judged by the condition of the shell. Hard-shelled crabs contain 30-35 percent meat by weight, compared to soft-shelled crabs, which can contain as little as 12 percent meat.

After heavy rainfall and resulting freshets, crabs are less abundant in the bays.

Slack Water

“Slack water” (peak high or low tide) is the best time to crab. During swift tidal exchanges, crabs often bury themselves, but at slack water, more crabs walk around foraging since they are less affected by tidal currents.

CLICK HERE to check tide tables.

365 day Season

Crabbing is open year-round in estuaries (i.e., bays), beaches, tide pools, piers, and jetties.

Bait

Many different types of meat are used for crab baits: turkey, chicken, mink, fish carcass, shad, herring, clams, etc… But whatever you use, fresh bait is best. Remember that seals and sea lions will eat any attractive bait they can get, including bait on a crab ring. You can avoid this problem using chicken, as seals do not like chicken, but crabs do.

Gear and soak time

The secret to our traps is that the crabs can access the bait without restrictions, such as bait bags or gates. The Crab bait is open and accessible for the crabs to eat. This means the crabs will be eating your bait fast. Therefore, with our traps, you must pull in the Trap quite often—the crabs will have all the chicken legs every five to six minutes.

This is true. Whether you are using the Original Traingle Max or the Round Crab Max, they all work the same.

The difference is in the netting area. Both traps are 24″ on the base, but the Round Crab Max has 50% more catching area because it is round and not a triangle.

Picture of the Crab Max. Triangle Original and the Round Crab Max

Original Triangle Crab Max

Area of square = width X height …. Crab Max when folded out make square width = 17 …height =17 …… 17x 17 = 289 sq inches crab catching area

The Round Crab Max, when opened, makes a circle, not a square. This increases the Crab Netting area by more than 50% just by changing the shape of the netting.

You do the Math

Area of circle = radius X radius X 3,1417 …. Round Crab Max, when folded out, makes a circle with a radius of 12 ….12 X 12 X 3.1417 = 452 sq inches

Area of square = width X height …. Original Triangle Crab Max when folded out make square width = 17 …height =17…… 17 x 17 = 289 sq inches

Circle Area minus Square Area (452-289)=163 inches increase and 163/289 = 56% more than a 50% increase

Both are built on a 24-inch axle; the netting is different, and the Round Crab Max is Stronger.

Stronger Stainless Steel

The Round Crab Max uses .125 Stainless Steel instead of .091 steel used in the Original Triangle Crab Max. The .125 enables the Round Crab Trapper to be a circle instead of a triangle.

• Black Hand-Line to Fishing Snap Breaking Strength increased to 300 lbs instead of White Hand-Line Breaking Strength of 100 lbs.
• The Breaking Strength from the Fishing Snap to Swivel increased to 220 lbs.
• The breaking strength from Hand-Line to trap has been increased to 450 lbs. LOse less Traps/

Special .,.,. Special.,.,. Special

Three (3) Round Crab Max crab and Three (3) handline

• Three (3) Round Crab Max Special

Hand-Line Options if you do not want the Black Hand-Line

If you already own your favorite Crab Trap, enhancements are offered:

They could increase your crab catching by 70%?

We do not know, but we are going to research the subject.

The Crab Max© …. Enhancement package consists of:

• Flashing White & green LED lights
• Loan-n-Go©. Bait Barrel
• No Touch©. Crab Attractant Packets

The PHD Research

At the fourth International Marine Conservation Congress, PHD candidate Khanh Nguyen, based at the Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland, described one-way snow crab fisheries can increase catchability.

Mr Nguyen’s research has focused on exploiting the snow crab’s biology—specifically, its ability to detect and react to lights. Some marine species are known to be attracted to lights, and some commercial fisheries, such as squid jigging, use lights to lure their prey. Whereas some fisheries use relatively powerful lights, Mr. Nguyen’s interest was in using low-powered, colored LED lights.

The first phase of his research took place in the laboratory. Focusing on the responses of legally sized male snow crabs (all females caught in this fishery must be returned to the ocean), Mr. Nguyen presented the crabs with five different colored LED lights—blue, green, red, purple, and white—and measured the crabs’ movement responses. While red and green LEDs elicited no statistically significant response, 75 percent of the crabs moved towards white and blue LEDs, while 85 percent moved away from purple LEDs.

The second phase of Mr Nguyen’s research was to take the LEDs out of the laboratory and see how they performed at sea on inshore fishing vessels. Newfoundland and Labrador snow crabs are primarily caught with smaller (under 20 meters) vessels, using baited conical mesh traps strung together. Soak times typically range from 24 to 48 hours.

To compare the effect of the low-powered LEDs on Catch Per Unit Effort (CUPE), different-colored LEDs were attached to some traps, while others had no LEDs to act as a control. As in the laboratory, the snow crabs responded differently to the lights.

The results were precise, and white LEDs are the way to go for snow crab fishermen looking to increase their Catch Per Unit Effort (CUPE). Compared to no LED light, simply adding a low-powered white LED light produced a 77% increase in CPUE.

Our Research … We do not know by how much increase, but they do increase the number of Crabs caught.

We do not know how much, but maybe with a lashing LED light and our two (2) proven increase performers, we can get to 70% or more.

Volia!

you are Loaded and ready to Go crabbing

Research Deal

Each of the individual parts of our research project can be ordered..separately .

To Order separately …CLICK on any of the following:

• Flashing White LED light … (CLICK HERE)
• Load-n-Go©. Bait Barrel… (CLICK HERE)
• No Touch©. Crab Attracent Packets… (CLICK HERE)

BUT

We offer a test package if you want to do your own research.

Do it Yourself Packets .,.,. less cost

Want to know more about Oregon Crabs?

• All the information necessary to take Dungeness and red rock crabs from Oregon’s Coastal Waters.
• Stimulates the interest of young crabbers in the complexity and diversity of the crabs common to the Pacific Northwest.
• Evaluates the methods used to take Dungeness and red rock crabs.
• Updated maps of Oregon’s Bays that disclose the areas of Oregon’s Bays where crabs are commonly caught.

• Recover a higher percentage of crab meat per crab using the same method used by professional Crab Shakers.
• Family Crab Louis recipes that your family will love. Our recipes emphasize using cooking methods that enhance the naturally sweet flavor of crab meat to its full potential.

• Updated maps of Oregon’s Bays that disclose the areas of Oregon’s Bays where crabs are commonly caught.

Bait Bag

Dead fish may not seem appealing to you, but crabs love them. We said earlier that fresh is best, but dead fish is one area where you can make the exception.  Fish are pretty fragrant, to begin with, and once they start to rot, their stink will be even more noticeable. You can use any rotten fish. Often, bait shops or fish markets will give them away.  They’re cheap and readily available, too. You can use fresh or frozen fish, but the benefit of frozen fish is that it will break down more slowly than fresh fish, giving you more time between checking traps.

‘Some options include tuna and mackerel. When baiting with tuna, some people even punch holes in a tuna can, then lower the can into the trap before placing the trap in the water.  Fish are quite attractive to other animals, including seals. Seals will not only steal your bait, but they’ll also do their best to remove the bait from the trap, too.’Some options include tuna and mackerel. When baiting with tuna, some people even punch holes in a tuna can, then lower the can into the trap before placing the trap in the water.  Fish are quite attractive to other animals, including seals. Seals will not only steal your bait, but they’ll also do their best to remove the bait from the trap, too.

Clams

Clams are crab favorites. These are part of a crab’s natural diet, so you shouldn’t have to do much hard work to convince the crabs to take a bite.  Plus, they are legal to use in most areas.  However, it is essential to note that clams might not be as effective if you are crabbing in an area with a large population of these creatures already.   The crabs might be bored by this additional offering.

Mink Carcasses

Mink carcasses can be tough to get your hands on in some areas, but they work as superior crab bait if you can.  Why? They’re super stinky.   Commonly used in commercial crabbing operations in Oregon, mink is stinky, oily, and incredibly versatile. The oil will stay on your hands, so you might want to wear gloves.

Any Meat or Animal Parts

If you don’t want to spend all your money purchasing meat, consider using readily available meat. Discarded organ meat from butcher shops is a good alternative.

You can also use other animal pieces in your crab traps.  You can also use a roadkill. The benefit of roadkill is that it is easy to come by just about anywhere you might live.  It also gives off an incredibly powerful odor. Choose options like raccoon, squirrel, rabbit, or other animal carcasses for the best results.

Other Human Foods

You can attach old bacon, bits of cheese, hot dogs, or even some bread to your crab trap. But remember – the stinkier, the better, and oilier foods tend to work best, too. The benefit of using human foods is that they tend to be much less stinky (and therefore easier to handle) than rotting meat. Some people even use unique household items like cat or dog food to entice crabs.