Cooler with Blue Claw Crabs

Today we managed to get a few (40 +) blue claw crabs. It's to a point now where we don't keep anything under 6". Some of the guys that came along for the ride hand-lined with chicken legs and pulled up another 8 - 10 nice sized Jimmies.
Guy also took home a half dozen crabs for Judy to cook ;)

New Jersey Crabbing Spots

It's great to stumble onto websites that offer information on good crabbing spots.
I couldn't let this on pass without sharing with you folks from NJ.
Scott's Bait and Tackle has a great listing of crabbing locations along the Jersey shore. Included are maps and lists of facilities with a description of what you'll expect to find there.
I hope you catch a few!

Jumbo Blue Claw Crabs!

Well... After the brush of our tropical storm Sunday we decided to check the traps and change the water. Much to our surprise the traps were packed with crabs.
Many jumbo males! Guy picked up 51 pounds of shrimp from the local boat and cleaned them there on the dock. This may had an impact on the amount of blue claws we caught. It's a day later and I'm trying to figure out how else I can prepare them.
May have to give them to the kids for dinner :)
I did cook 22 crabs in a big pot my dad had. I used water (naturally) and about a cup of cider vinegar and two heaping tablespoons of old bay. Once the water came back to a slow boil after the crabs were put in I timed it for 25 minutes.
They were delicious!
The traps are baited again with chicken thighs. We'll see what happens...

Crab Wrestling

Here's Guy in a crab tangle. Wonder who wins...

Cooking Jersey Blue Claw Crabs Part-3

Garlic, butter, parmesan cheese and wine for crabs...
Blue claw crabs cooked New Jersey style.

Crabbing on the Neuse River

Sunday we had a nice amount of medium to large blue claw crabs in our traps out in Pamlico County. After baiting the traps (cut up chicken) we decided to look for a different spot along the Neuse River.
Not far from our crab spot in the country we found a public pier heading into the river.
We tied some chicken to a few hand lines and were pleasantly surprised to see quite a lot of activity. We caught 8 within 20 minutes or so but had to leave due to one of the kids getting a splinter from the bulkhead.
The pressure treated wood creates a very nasty and painful experience and since I couldn't take it out we quickly packed up and went home.
Bringing in the crab lines we had 2 keeper crabs on one bait!
Will return here I'm sure...

Guys Cooked Blue Claw Crabs

Click image for super size. Be sure to have a bib or napkin ready!
Well, actually Judy cooked them but we all knew who ate them...
Looks great!
You can visit the "Crab Lady's" blog for more about this dish.
The Crab Lady

North view of our crab spot.

Here's a north view of our new crabbing spot in the country.
That's a shrimp boat in the distance.

Crabbing on Sunday 7/6/08

Despite rough water and overnight thunder storms we still managed to get 17 nice crabs. Mostly male with a few large female crabs mixed in. We also tried hand lining with chicken thighs and picked up a few nice ones as well. My dad "Pops" cooked up the crabs and my two kids who love them took their fair share.

The traps were re-baited and we plan to check them Monday night. Instead of stuffing chicken inside the bait towers we decided to tie off parts so the meat of the chicken will be more available to our hungry guests.

Will post results...

New crabbing site in the country.

The crab Guy and I are testing a new crabbing location. Guy's friend allowed us to put out 2 traps at his pier out in the country. We set out down the pier armed with our crab traps and a pile of chicken parts.
As we walked out on the pier we saw quite a few crabs hanging on to pylons. We now anticipated a good catch to come when we come back to pick up the traps Sunday.

It was exciting to say the least. So we tied off the traps and then decided to ask our humble dock host for a net so we can get the crabs we saw just hanging around.

We returned to the pier and picked up 8 or so crabs but most were mating so we let them be. One however was of decent size and instead of bringing one crab home we decided to put the crab into a trap to possibly attract more or better yet be there when we get back Sunday.
Well... We were surprised to find that within the 15 minutes of the trap being in the water we had a jumbo Jimmie already!

I can't wait till tomorrow...

The Dome Crabcatcher Crab Trap

The Dome Crabcatcher Crab Trap made by "The Crabcatcher" looks to be a nifty way to fill your bucket with crabs.
I just visited the web site and read about how the trap works and am impressed with the simple design. For pier crabbing it looks like a sure fire way to land more crabs than the bait line or old style folding traps that work most of the time.
On the Crabcatcher web site they show their trap in action. You can even see how they steam crabs in Maryland and yes... how to clean them and remove the crab meat.