Digging through some old photos I came across this picture taken of a blue claw we caught in a brackish lake near Montauk LI. To date it has to be the biggest blue crab I ever saw no less caught!
The interesting thing is how we caught crabs in this shallow lake... You simply rowed about in 8' aluminum boats and looked along the bottom and picked the crabs up with a net. The water was only 3' deep or so and the crabs were easily spotted until the water became rippled by the wind.
For those interested in where this crabbing spot is located you can find it in the town of East Hampton at Cedar Point Campgrounds. It's called Alewife Pond. I'm not sure if you can still rent boats there but it's worth a shot. You can see the small salt water feeder on this map.
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If anyone has a picture of a giant blue claw crab or a story to tell, post a comment here or send me your photo to: thecrabguy@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I use to catch blue claw crabs as a kid. I would use hand lines and traps that were open at the top. Once in awhile a fish would swim into the open trap and it was some of the best fun I had as a child. One day I was on a dock using regular traps that were about 1 foot by 1 foot in diameter. i looked down at the shore line and there was a HUGE female blue claw crab. It was about a 10 foot drop down to the shore line. Instead of running down to the steps of the dock and back up to the shore line I jumped off with my hand net. That big crab got a little scared and started back into the murky waters. I just about lost site of it when I jammed my net over the top of it. Voila ! I got it ! I couldnt believe it. The crab was a monster. I put it into my bucket and was astonished that the crab could NOT fit flat into the bucket. It was at an angle. To this day no one believes that I caught this monster but I did. I brought the crab home and gave it to my Dad who at that time really just loved to fish and hunt. He ate that big old crab and from that day on he was a crabber too. A few years later I became a commercial fisherman and commercial crabber for blue claw crabs. Of all the crabs I've seen and theres been alot, Not even one jumbo crab came even close to the monster I caught that day. My only regret is that I didnt take a photo. This was at a time before the internet. So taking a picture of a crab wasnt really thought of I guess you could say. For all I know it was a world record. Im just happy I have the memories. Glad I could share the story with someone that has like interests D
ReplyDeleteI believe your crab and bucket story :)
ReplyDeleteThe one I caught above never made it to the bottom of the bucket because it held on to the sides!
We finally got it into a cooler and brought it home.
My crab was a male and I'm sure he had a few older girlfriends (big lady blues) lurking around back then.
Heck it was 1978!
Does anyone bother to take measurements of any of their this crab's actual 'point-to-point' widths? It would be very interesting to know...or perhaps someone even knows the record for a blue claw crab? Shamefully, i see nothing on giggle with any true record widths.......perhaps i'm just being lazy, but.....eh.....anyone?
ReplyDeleteWe never actually measured our crabs back then because many were quite large. I did catch a 9 1/4" inch crab last year but even that one was not as large as the one above...
ReplyDeletehi, my name is eric boscovich, and my grandfather i think, has the lagest blue crab record. the crab was 12 1/2 inches from point to point, weighing 2 3/4 lbs. it was back in 1970's, in indian river, fl. we have the clipping from the local paper still, in our fish market. if ud like ill gladly put the pic up. let me know.
ReplyDeleteHi I'm a crabber from childhood in the Brooklyn NY Gravesend Bay Area. I am now 77 yrs. old
ReplyDeleteIf Blue Claw crabs are caught in Polluted waters. Do they have digestive systems and are they edible after they are cleaned.