Mud crabs

[Berniek]

Ok all
whats the good guts on catching mud crabs up near the tip.

When - time of the year?
Bait - fish frames, road kill?
Time - night/day?
Tides?
Method - pot type, spear?
crocs & sharks?
Places - creeks/bays/mangroves?
Time pots left in the water etc?
Deadbeats stealing pots/crabs?

I don't actually want much do i:)

Ideally, i would like to be able to stroll down to a lovely sandy beach, beer in hand with my crab cooker and "call" forth crabs to commit suicide for me, but i guess that aint gunna happen :( (is it :shock: )

[geoffjy]

Ok all
whats the good guts on catching mud crabs up near the tip.

When - time of the year?
Bait - fish frames, road kill?
Time - night/day?
Tides?
Method - pot type, spear?
crocs & sharks?
Places - creeks/bays/mangroves?
Time pots left in the water etc?
Deadbeats stealing pots/crabs?

I don't actually want much do i:)

Ideally, i would like to be able to stroll down to a lovely sandy beach, beer in hand with my crab cooker and "call" forth crabs to commit suicide for me, but i guess that aint gunna happen :( (is it :shock: )


Have answered a couple of questions in the PM allready.

I generally crab all year round and some times are better than others. As for best times, i have had people say just after a full moon as well as during a new moon. The reason behind this that crabs like a bit movement in the water. No movement means the scent of the bait will not travel far.

In regards to bait, i have used fish frames in the past to great success. A mate uses a couple of pillies and a piece of oxtail. He swears he has never had a croc attack one of his pots and the crabs love it.

To properly crab you need to check your pots avery one or two hours and move them around. Me, i'm a bit slack and if i get around to it, i might check them twice a day. I also like to leave them overnight.

I tend to catch more crabs at the mouths of gutters that still have water in them at low tide.

I also just use ordinary crabs pots rather than dillies.

As for people stealing pots or crabs, i used to have problems with this when i lived in the Daintree but have not had a problem up the Cape at all.

Hope this helps.

[outbackjack]

Is there some where very close to Weipa where you can get muddies with out a boat? My missus loves and I could earn some brownie points if I could get one a week for her.

[geoffjy]

Is there some where very close to Weipa where you can get muddies with out a boat? My missus loves and I could earn some brownie points if I could get one a week for her.

Ant should be able to answer this one for you as its been ages since i crabbed the area.

[plucker]

Bit of information for you guys.

There are 4 different types of mud crab in Australia. Dont know where the different varieties occur though.

To most they all look the same, although I noticed a difference in the colouration of the ones in the Western Cape, compare to the east. Their nippers are reddy coloured like they were slightly cooked.

Once cooked they all look the same to me and tasted wonderful.

Capture methods, I usually crab on the neeping tides with no run, as they tend to move around a bit.

Fresh bait is important.

The pros crab the flats normally, but I dont have 50 pots so I put mine in the vicinity of big crab holes located.

I only crab through the day cause the crocs smash them at night. They just bite the floats through the day because the slap slap on the water pisses them.

Like Geoff has suggested, I move them every hour - yep safety's, and rebait every 2 hours/second lift.

Best bait I have used was queenfish frames, and catfish. Have tried roo bones, fresh and stale fish bait, pig, mynah birds, and tinned cat food all with fair success.

[geoffjy]

Capture methods, I usually crab on the neeping tides with no run, as they tend to move around a bit.

Thats funny Plucker. I dont seem to catch as many crabs on the neaps as i do with a current. Up here anyway.

[Berniek]

.....Ideally, i would like to be able to stroll down to a lovely sandy beach, beer in hand with my crab cooker and "call" forth crabs to commit suicide for me, but i guess that aint gunna happen :( (is it :shock: )

Thanks guys
Nobody actually said it so i take it my ideal method wont work :(
I guess i will just have to do the beer part on the beach .......
:D :D :D

[geoffjy]

Yeah, for some reason i cant see your method of catching crabs working there Bernie. ;)

[plucker]

Thats funny Plucker. I dont seem to catch as many crabs on the neaps as i do with a current. Up here anyway.

I find that the crabs around here find the bait quicker with no run, also seem to get the rusty bucks too. The places I crab have muddier banks, and I notice that the cape is more sandy, although that does change from one system to the next.

I have found over the years that in those sandier bottomed areas, I manage to pick them up with the scoop net on the flats.

I love crabs, but in the end when the fishing is good who has the time.

[geoffjy]

Very true Plucker. There are several spots up the Cape where you can just walk along and pick them up with a net. Needless to say i dont think many people knonw about those spots otherwise the crabs would not be there. Im a bit slack when it comes to putting pots in.

[Stacky]

Thanks guys
Nobody actually said it so i take it my ideal method wont work :(
I guess i will just have to do the beer part on the beach .......
:D :D :D

I'm sure if you sat on the beach long enough some sort of predator will show up, too big for a crab cooker though.

[Porker54]

ON the North Coast NSW we use chook legs and chook carcass..we have found them to be more reliable than mullet, fish frames etc for both muddies and blue swimmers..just zip tie them in the nets...nice and clean...and you can feed the leftovers to the dog!!

[Brigalow]

Very true Plucker. There are several spots up the Cape where you can just walk along and pick them up with a net. Needless to say i dont think many people knonw about those spots otherwise the crabs would not be there. Im a bit slack when it comes to putting pots in.

D'Day geoffjy,"There are several spots up the Cape where you can just walk along and pick them up with a net"OK OK a sharp stick or spear to dig them out from the rocks helps:D
We have found Virilya on a good day there can a good feed be had...and as for baiting pots,the big no no is cod carcasses...cod are the crabs numro uno enemy and they can seem to smell the suckers.:( truth??dont know dont care and dont use.

[geoffjy]

Good to see you made the right choice in beverages. :p

When i mean walk along and pick them up, i mean with a gaff and landing net. Some areas that i know of, with the start of the incoming tide they come out of their holes and head up the river. Its this time that they are vulnerable.

[geoffjy]

Oh, Vrilya can be good for crabs. There is one place near there where they seem to congregate in about 1mt of water. Looking down over the side of the boat you can see them everywhere. This only happens early on in the year though.

[plucker]

...and as for baiting pots,the big no no is cod carcasses...cod are the crabs numro uno enemy and they can seem to smell the suckers.:( truth??dont know dont care and dont use.

I regularly use cod frames and heads in pots. Catch just as many crabs as barra and jack frames/heads.

[geoffjy]

I dont remember having any trouble with cod frames also. Seemed to cacth just as many crabs as other fish frames.

[Stacky]

Eat or be Eaten!

I think that's the law of the underwater world. If it's an easy meal, most will eat it.

The only time i see an appetite fusiness is when the predator is focused on a certain type of prey at the time of the hunt.

Doesn't that make sense? It does to me.

I was planned to run some crab pots out the Jackey this morning but it hasn't stop raining all night and morning. Not that the crabs would care much but i guess i can afford to get a little fussy with comfort.

Cheers
Stacky

[geoffjy]

Tell me about it. I was planning on heading out in the boat on Sunday or Monday. I was cursing when that rain came back in last night.

[Scorcher]

Tell me about it. I was planning on heading out in the boat on Sunday or Monday. I was cursing when that rain came back in last night.

Ahhhh....the price you fella's pay for living in paradise !!

We're all thinking of you....:(

Scorcher

[geoffjy]

Ahhhh....the price you fella's pay for living in paradise !!

We're all thinking of you....:(


I know, its really tough. No cinemas, shopping malls.... About the only thing we can do is fish. :p

[Stacky]

Ahhhh....the price you fella's pay for living in paradise !!

We're all thinking of you....:(

Scorcher

It turns out that sometimes you don't even have to leave the house and your mates can come up with the goods.
A mate has just given me one of the many big bucks he caught on a leisurely Sunday morning. Cooking him up now......mouths watering...Yum!!!

[geoffjy]

Heard an interesting thing last weekend while i was down the West coast. The guy with me said that when you see big jellyfish up the rivers the crabs are going off. Apparently they eat them. Havnt heard this theory but willing to give it a go as there seem to be a few around at the moment.