Tag Archives: How to catch blue crab

Eat More Shrimp!

Eat More Shrimp 1

The boys and I got outdoors for a local cultural tradition of blue crabbing along the beautiful coast of Daphne, AL today.

So many times on our walks along the piers of Mobile Bay we have witnessed the very effective technique of using chicken quarters mixed with raspberry sauce or well prepared turkey necks to catch blue crab. The chicken and turkey are typically baked in the sun for hours to attract blue crab to the rotting scent of poultry. Something to think about is spoiled chicken and turkey are known to produce protein toxins and bacteria that are certainly not native to estuaries that blue crab reside in.

Considering the risk, I have been wanting to find another way of effectively catching blue crab with my boys without having to use the same types of bait. So, my boys and I made a trip to our neighboring seafood carrier and picked up two dozen locally caught shrimp. We rigged up the crab net with a two-drop nylon leader rig that enabled three hooks to be attached. After all, blue crab are opportunistic feeders and they are attracted to shrimp as a native food source.

Eat More Shrimp 2

Eat More Shrimp 3During the course of the day we had some onlookers that detailed their guaranteed recipe for success, but we enjoyed sharing the idea of using a native food source and were able to demonstrate it can be a successful method of crabbing.

Eat More Shrimp 4The blues we caught today were not large, but we had a great time and the boys learned another good lesson in conservation. That is, to release those of the catch that are undersize. What a great day, taking in a local tradition that we can share as a family.

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