december crabs

[native son]

dug up some old crab dredges my dad had in the back yard and gave it a try....

[SayWhen]

cool stuff.enjoy the good eats

[Joseph Lamberty]

Do crabs have any meat in them in Dec?...I thought they stop feeding when the temperature is this cold and they bury themselves in the mud ?

[native son]

yeah...there loaded!!!!i guess they load up for their big nap...

[RyanF]

Looks cool but I have a stupid question - what happens to the non-legal crabs that are tossed back? Do they survive and re-burrow? Yeah, yeah, I know I am being a pansy

RyanF

[boatliftman]

they die, but they create a buffet for other creatures in the spring did you happen to pick a few scallops??? just curious

Looks cool but I have a stupid question - what happens to the non-legal crabs that are tossed back? Do they survive and re-burrow? Yeah, yeah, I know I am being a pansy

RyanF

[native son]

they die, but they create a buffet for other creatures in the spring did you happen to pick a few scallops??? just curious

no i didn't see any....i've got a good idea where to look for some though....the sea gulls are finding them and dropin em' on the houses...can't tow under power for the scallops though...

[native son]

Looks cool but I have a stupid question - what happens to the non-legal crabs that are tossed back? Do they survive and re-burrow? Yeah, yeah, I know I am being a pansy

RyanF

honestly i think i had 4 or 5 that i had to throw back out of a bushel and.....yeah...they die....

[RyanF]

they die, but they create a buffet for other creatures in the spring did you happen to pick a few scallops??? just curious

honestly i think i had 4 or 5 that i had to throw back out of a bushel and.....yeah...they die....

I dont like the idea that illegal crabs are just tossed back to die, but I cannot argue that 4 or 5 to a bushel is a damn good ratio. I assume there is a point where you would decide to dredge different areas cause you are killing too much crabs?

boatliftman - I am not trying to be soft here, just trying to learn, but saying they would create a buffet in the spring after rolling around dead for two months is hardly any consolation to killing absurd numbers of crabs. Just a thought, once again this is not directed at Native Son, I am quite jealous that he got himself a bushel of late December blue claws and if I could do that while only killing 4-5 crabs I would do it in a heartbeat.

Last question - always hear that a cold winter which ices over the backwaters results in a bad crabbing season. They are all crushed under the ice???? Native Son - how deep were you pulling?

Thanks guys

RyanF

[Beaverhole48spl]

Last question - always hear that a cold winter which ices over the backwaters results in a bad crabbing season. They are all crushed under the ice???? Native Son - how deep were you pulling?
RyanF

I remember a few years back we had a fairly mild winter and the following summer we saw more of an increase in size than numbers... I doubt that they are crushed under the ice i would think that they just freeze? Last winter kinda sucked and I heard crabbin was great in my area... the one time I went out I slammed em but if I remember right there wasnt too much size to them... so I gotta wonder if in some way shape or form a really cold winter affects the size of em

[rusty scupper]

rocking chairs dredges like that dont tear them up too bad at all so long as you dont pull them too fast. small bag and your hauling by hand i imagine

[boatliftman]

rest assured something will eat those crabs i may go catch a few scallops soon, i will be easy to find just look for the fool in the water

I dont like the idea that illegal crabs are just tossed back to die, but I cannot argue that 4 or 5 to a bushel is a damn good ratio. I assume there is a point where you would decide to dredge different areas cause you are killing too much crabs?

boatliftman - I am not trying to be soft here, just trying to learn, but saying they would create a buffet in the spring after rolling around dead for two months is hardly any consolation to killing absurd numbers of crabs. Just a thought, once again this is not directed at Native Son, I am quite jealous that he got himself a bushel of late December blue claws and if I could do that while only killing 4-5 crabs I would do it in a heartbeat.

Last question - always hear that a cold winter which ices over the backwaters results in a bad crabbing season. They are all crushed under the ice???? Native Son - how deep were you pulling?

Thanks guys

RyanF

[underdogg]

tell you the truth if those crabs were dug in you should not be touching them

and in fact i am hearing about hydraulics being used to dig up these crabs and that is illegal and boat numbers are being taken and reported

everybody is saying where are all blueclaws , what happen to our crabs
maybe the stripers are eating them all

no
its the pirates of new jersey who dont care about anybody or anything and taking everthing for themselves and killing the future

[native son]

tell you the truth if those crabs were dug in you should not be touching them

and in fact i am hearing about hydraulics being used to dig up these crabs and that is illegal and boat numbers are being taken and reported

everybody is saying where are all blueclaws , what happen to our crabs
maybe the stripers are eating them all

no
its the pirates of new jersey who dont care about anybody or anything and taking everthing for themselves and killing the future

should i????nah....

[MargaritaVille]

Pretty cool.
Do you need a special license to dredge for crabs in NJ as a recreational crabber?