Rusty's Big Crab

Thanks for the photo's Rusty...

Nice Crab!

(click on images for larger view)

Close up of a hugh claw...

Here's a working Google map of the area Rusty caught this giant crab.

It's anyones guess where his favorite spot is  ;)

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Crab Tattoos

Ok, I know they're not the most popular tattoo's to get but some folks actually get them. Not just crab tattoo's but blue crab tattoo's!
During one of my web surfing moments I stumbled across a blue claw crab drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer! Now that's unique...
I would also add that it beats one of those plain old tramp stamp butterfly toos any day. :)


The tattoo parlor that created this fine work of art is "Sea Legs Tattoo Studio". They are located in the Baltimore area so the chances of someone wanting a blue crab tatoo was pretty high I guess.


Visit their website and ask for Melissa.
Sea Legs Tattoo Studio












Another tattoo for the less faint of heart was done by Phil Robertson of the "Custom Ohio Tattoo Shop". Not just the design of this crustacean beauty I admire but the guts of the person who had this done! Imagine looking at that in the mirror every day. Awesome work Phil!

Visit the Custom Ohio Tattoo Shop to see more of Phil's work.



Going back on my image search I finally realized that there are many more folks out there getting crab tattoo's that I ever imagined.
Go see for yourself... Google Image "Blue Crab Tattoo".

I guess wearing them permanently on your skin is a lot of fun...

Personally I would still rather catch & eat 'em.

Newly Styled Crab Board

The all new crab board!

Features...

• Board, mallet and dipping cup are laser engraved.
• Non-toxic red dye hand painted on board.
• Boards are hand made, engraved and painted in the USA.

$24.95 for complete set + shipping

*Old style still available without added red dye for $19.95.

Kids and Crabs

Except for the 4 or so that got away today...

We went crabbing at 6 am the other day and saw 1 crab. Today on the other hand we went down to the docks and picked up 10 really nice sized Jimmies all after 5:30 pm!
Go figure...

For bait we used halved mullet caught the other day with a cast net. It was pretty consistent action on the hand lines considering we thought the crabbing spot was fished out. The crabbing action has been really hot with some very impressive sized crabs. In the past 3 weeks we steadily came home with more than a half dozen for very little effort with our best day with 28.

I've seen better action but can't remember so many jumbos coming over the rail!

Here's the final damage...
2 1/2 crabs left attacked by 5 curious and hungry for crab kids  :)

CRABS ARE IN!!!

And very tasty too!

October... Is it the end of the crab season?

After the amazing weather we had here in the east coastal area of North Carolina. 18+ inches of rain! I decided to head out and go crabbing anyway the day after the storm. Mainly to get a feel for how the fall season may be shaping up and heck... I was curious to see how high the water was.
To start things off it took us over an hour to get to our crab spot due to a bridge out. But obviously that didn't stop us. It was a nice driving day so I really didn't mind...
We finally arrived and saw the expected rise in water but didn't expect it to be as high as it was. Right up to the walk boards! Normally the water is 2 feet or so beneath.

Now for the crabbing... Out of the traps we came up with ONE keeper crab! I surely blame it on the storm because after rigging up our chicken hand lines and an hour or two later we managed 20 hungry critters. The added bonus was how tasty the crabs are this time of the year!

So get out and go crabbing! It's not over yet. You may come home with less crabs but they are definitely worth putting in the steamer...

Crab Lunch

Getting ready for a snack.
Actually... We caught 31 crabs on Friday and another 25 on Sunday so crab is on the menu quite a bit these days. Had the boys over for some picking and cold beer Friday night.
I have also heard reports of a nice showing of larger "Jimmies" starting to make an early fall run. Go out and get some chicken, twine and your net and hit your favorite dock!

Bonjour :)

Crabbing in Georgia

A good friend suggested I mention a favorite crabbing spot of his located just south of the South Carolina, Georgia border and just east of Savannah in Tybee Island. The Lazaretto fishing pier is actually located on the old hwy 80 along with across the creek the Tybee Island Marina. Looking into this crabbing tip I 've noticed some great fun alternatives if the crabbing doesn't work out for you.

All of the ocean beaches are public and surf fishing is allowed in designated areas. So bring some medium tackle with you and your sand spikes. On the north and south ends of the beach are rock jetties that the locals crab from. I am always leery about walking out onto rock jetties and don't recommend doing so but if you decide to... Use common sense!

If roughing it isn't for you you can head out to the fishing pier on Fisherman's Walk (click for map. The pier is located on the Back River. Again... I haven't tried this spot myself but looking at the map it surely looks promising.

As with many recreational fishing these days check the local laws and regulations on fishing and license requirements. Georgia Department of Natural Resources- Wildlife Resources Division is where you can ask and or obtain about a license.

One last mention about Tybee Island is the famous "The Crab Shack". Looks like a fun place and I'm sure they have crabs if you aren't so lucky. Heck you can go in your bare feet! How good is that?

If anyone gets a chance to crab Tybee Island or anywhere else in Georgia drop me a note below. I welcome and appreciate all comments :)


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Stuffed Crab Recipe

Besides crabbing, fishing, drinking beer and not working one of my favorite things to do is cook fish. In this case it's crabs. There's a party today and between Guy and myself we are bringing a bushel of cleaned crabs, some of my clams casino, 15 large stuffed clams (baked clams) and to top it off 15 rather large stuffed crabs.

Here's how I made them...

15 crab shells
12 oz. imitation crab meat with real snow crab blended in
4 oz. salad shrimp (mini shrimp)
16 oz. herb style seasoned bread stuffing
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
8 oz.bottle of clam juice
1/2 cup water
Parmesan cheese (grated)
seafood seasoning (old bay etc.)
parsley

Mix shrimp, crab meat (break apart), melted butter, olive oil, wine, and clam juice in large mixing bowl till blended.
Fold in by hand bread stuffing till blended. Mixture will be dry and now you slowly add water to clump things up. 1/2 cup should do it. You want a loose consistency of the stuffing, not too doughy or flaky.
Stuff each crab shell and place on baking sheet.
Sprinkle lightly with seafood seasoning then Parmesan cheese and finally parsley (serves as a garnish).
Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
Serve warm with lemon slices and cocktail forks.
Yummy!

Cooking tip: Avoid excessive seasoning by going very light with the seafood seasoning and Parmesan cheese. There's noting better than tasting the crab in butter, olive oil and white wine.

Clams in... Crabs take a break

The Crab guy and I decided to try something a little different today. Instead of running out to our favorite crab haunt which by the way is really showing a big pick up in both quantity and quality of crabs we decided to try clamming.
Both of us have clammed up north in NJ and Long Island before so we aren't strangers to the art of clamming. But here in the south it seems a bit more of a challenge.
We headed out with an old rusty clam rake and made an effort to catch as much or close to our daily limit of 100 clams a piece. Well... The day started off very slow and within an hour or two we had a measly 11 clams. At least it was something since both of us have never clammed here before.
We then decided to look around and cast netted up a few finger mullet and drifted for whatever would jump on the hook. I caught a small bluefish and a black tip shark.
Can you feel the excitement here?
So with an hour left to our fishing day we then decided to head back to the pier. Looking over to my left on the way in I saw a nice shallow flat that at the very least we could pull the boat onto and try one last time to get the twelfth clam :)
Guy agreed to give it a shot.
Sun burnt, tired but still optimistic we anchored and jumped overboard. I dragged the rake over a small clump of sea grass and there it was... A clam, the twelfth clam! We both looked at each other and before I could comment, another and another.
This is already a long story so I won't use the cliche... to make a long story short.
We came home with a nice pile of clams!
I'm making my famous "clams casino" a la scampi style as I type. They sure smell good.

Update: Judy of Judy's Kitchen is also blogging about foods of Down East North Carolina and took some awesome photo's of the finished clams.
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