Hi, Anybody done some "Crabbing" in their kayaks? What the heck, since I got past my two biggest hurdles [driving license back, and reading tide/current tables/chart] and also purchased my "combination" fishing license, may as well brain storm a bit eh? I have recently come across a "crab pot(???)" at Walmart that is pretty small, and looks as though it could work. This one when "drawn up" forms a "pyramid" shape. How does one store their pot in their kayak? What size/shape would you recommend? Is there a time of day you have found was best to go? Since my limited experience indicates the best bait is "pretty smelly" etc... Do you use different gloves than those one might use for regular paddling? How do you get the crab(s) caught back to shore, without having to take the entire trap back, then go out again to place the trap? Never having had a kettle to boil them in, I also came across one suitable for my single burner Coleman also. The cost is relatively cheap, and the kettle is on the small size, but I would think that for a camper, or a single man like myself<g> Sure looks like it would work... There are a number of places in the world where crabs provide a tasty alternative food source, I am interested to hear from anyone on this subject. [Still fondly remember the crabs in Virginia Beach though<g>] Take care, Tom... A kayak paddler with a brain injury that is VERY glad He no longer lives outside of seattle... <gadfly911_at_earthlink.net> homepage: none yet *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I'll take a little pinch on this one. Can't say I did any crabbing out of a kayak but my dad and I used to run 350 crab traps daily as a means of family support in the Gulf of Mexico. Of course our traps were run from a Laffitte Skiff. My dad handled the skiff as I hooked the corks, pulled in the traps, emptied the traps and rebaited the traps and then threw them back over board. Usualy came to the docks with a few hundred pounds of crabs. A lot of crabs but our traps were home made with a dimension of about a three foot cube ( ain't gonna work in da kayak). We mainly used fish that we caught in the traps. Trash fish was bought at the docks for bait also or we had freinds that saved there trash fish from the shrimp trawls. I was sent many times to go throw the cast net for mud mullets for bait. I remember once we even used some of the chickens we use to raise when other bait was slim pickings or just did'nt have the money to buy bait. I'm glad my dog did'nt die during our crabbing days :-( > >Is there a time of day you have found was >best to go? Crabs should be attainable almost any time of the day. > Since my limited experience indicates the best bait is "pretty smelly" >etc... Do you use different gloves than those one might use for regular >paddling? I'm not a glove type of person but if you were to use gloves I would suggest basic cotton gloves. Between getting rid of the bait smell and the crab smell, I would think the crabbing trip odor will stay on those good paddling gloves for many trips to follow. The nastyer the smell the better the bait. Old chicken necks or melt should work great for recreational crabbing. How do you get the crab(s) caught back to shore, without having >to take the entire trap back, then go out again to place the trap? > Providing I was not in any challenging seas I would probably just break the claws off the crabs and dump them in the cockpit. Providing you are not very ticklish ;-) Of course you would want to keep the claws and boil them with the crabs. Personally if it was feasible to carry the Wal Mart traps in the kayak during a trip (???) I would just set them along shore and wade out to them to run um and not use the kayak. Arthur Hebert Louisiana ( west bank of the Mississippi River) http://homepages.gs.net/seacajun *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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