bayhead
07-19-2010, 12:21 AM
Just so no one feels bad about their CRABBING EFFORT this past weekend I had the same frustrating experience this past Saturday.
Crabbed a tide on one of the upper western shore rivers and did what a number of people have been doing lately. Took four lines - laid two upon arrival and began to feed the kazillion little crabs with an occasional legal to jumbo crab caught every so often. When we had tide movement about 9:30 I started catching more and more legal size crabs. My bait was FOWL NECKS just recently thawed and tied directly to my snoods (i.e. no bags) My baits lasted me four and a half hours which got me through the last bit of moving tide from about 10:15 through 11:15. In the last hour - even in the baking, hot, bright sun I managed to fill up a solid basket of good mixed males.
The number of small crabs out there (and everywhere else from what I hear) is incredible - like other reports already posted I had a crab or crabs on EVERY bait including many crabs that were just one inch long to crabs that were 5 1/8th inch in length - after the next shed "de gonna be lots of legal crabs!"
Until something changes I would recommend going the route of having multiple lines ready to use throughout the morning as the tide dictates. I was also pleased with how the fowl necks lasted under the seige of "termites" out there.
Of note.. a good freind of mine called me about 9:00 am that morning to let me know his fresh, full clam bags were absolutely destroyed in an hour and a half from when he got in the water that day. Fresh baits for those who trap and additional fresh line for trotliners can make a difference - I proved it to myself this weekend.
Good luck
Crabbed a tide on one of the upper western shore rivers and did what a number of people have been doing lately. Took four lines - laid two upon arrival and began to feed the kazillion little crabs with an occasional legal to jumbo crab caught every so often. When we had tide movement about 9:30 I started catching more and more legal size crabs. My bait was FOWL NECKS just recently thawed and tied directly to my snoods (i.e. no bags) My baits lasted me four and a half hours which got me through the last bit of moving tide from about 10:15 through 11:15. In the last hour - even in the baking, hot, bright sun I managed to fill up a solid basket of good mixed males.
The number of small crabs out there (and everywhere else from what I hear) is incredible - like other reports already posted I had a crab or crabs on EVERY bait including many crabs that were just one inch long to crabs that were 5 1/8th inch in length - after the next shed "de gonna be lots of legal crabs!"
Until something changes I would recommend going the route of having multiple lines ready to use throughout the morning as the tide dictates. I was also pleased with how the fowl necks lasted under the seige of "termites" out there.
Of note.. a good freind of mine called me about 9:00 am that morning to let me know his fresh, full clam bags were absolutely destroyed in an hour and a half from when he got in the water that day. Fresh baits for those who trap and additional fresh line for trotliners can make a difference - I proved it to myself this weekend.
Good luck