Some people enjoy fishing. It is relaxing and can have tremendous rewards. I get the same pleasure out of crabbing and, for the most part, it is probably a less expensive endeavor. I also find the activity to be entertaining for almost everyone who participates. Even people who have lived on the water all of their lives, but who have never paid much attention to crabs, enjoy the new experience in their own back yard.

Basic Crabbing Equipment Dip Net Bucket or floating basket String or twine Sinker or small weight Bait (cut fish, chicken necks) Old tennis shoes Flashlight for night work

Crabbing for Food and Fun You can catch crabs with a minimum of equipment but there are some simple, inexpensive things that would make for a more enjoyable and productive experience. The most important piece of equipment is the dip net. Crab nets used to be fairly common in sporting goods stores on the southeast coast of the U.S. Dip nets for fisherman will work but the ring for the net should not be too wide and the net itself should not form a very large bag as in some of the dip nets for larger game fish. You may also have to add a extension to make the handle longer. Ideally, the rim or ring for the net should be about 16 inches in diameter and the combination of rim and handle should be about six feet in length. You should be able to make or purchase some combination of the above for about ten dollars. To be honest, I rarely have enough nets. Everybody in the party wants their own. I usually form pairs, one netter and one to carry a bucket for the catch. This seems to work fairly well. If you can, try and bring enough nets for half of your group. Once you have a crab in a net, it needs to be transferred to a holding container. The simplest containers are buckets and they present no problem when working in pairs. If working alone, the bucket can be a problem. Crabs are fast and both hands are needed to make a catch. One important caution. Novices, young and old want to fill the crab bucket with water. That makes it heavy and it drowns the crabs. "Drowns the crabs?" My students look at me in disbelief but it is true ... maybe the better word is smothers them. The amount of water in the bucket is small and does not contain much oxygen. The crabs will use it up very fast. Like other animals, without oxygen they die. It gets worse. Crabs also urinate a lot. This pollutes the water and makes it toxic for them. And finally crabs have powerful claws or pinchers. As they slosh around in the bucket they grab one another and break open the hard shell or carapaces. The blood flows into the water ... more pollution, less oxygen. It is best to keep the crabs dry and damp. As long as their gills are moist, they can get oxygen. Even crabs who spend all of their lives in the water can live for hours out of water if their gills do not dry out. This same argument holds true for clams, oysters, mussels, snails and so forth. Cover them with water in a bucket and you probably kill them. The best holding device is a floating container that allows fresh water to move through it. This eliminates the problems of pollution and low oxygen. It also eliminates the problem of managing a bucket and net at the same time. Just tie a rope from your belt to the float and it follows along wherever you go. One of the simplest floating pens is a bushel basket stuck in the middle of an inflated inner tube. Both may be hard to come by these days. Round, plastic laundry baskets with small mesh openings would work. Rectangular boxes, including laundry baskets with holes can also be used. You need to attach something like Styrofoam blocks or neoprene tubes at the top to make it float. Remember the float should be like an iceberg with most of it below water. The best ones, made of wood float so that the upper edge is just on top of the water. These need hinged tops or doors to prevent the crabs from swimming to the top and crawling out. The dip net and bucket prepare you for active search for crabs. You simply wade around in shallow water looking for crabs. When you see one that is a reasonable size, you dip it and put it in your bucket or float. Sounds simple enough. But you do need shallow water and too much wind will make it very difficult to see the crabs. The whole process is a riot. I show students and visitors what to do and send them off on their own. You can hear the shrieks and laughter in the distance ... and they become experts with the net very rapidly. Almost all return with buckets full of crabs, empty them and want to return to their new found occupation. If the water is too high to actively hunt crabs, all is not lost. You still need your net and bucket, but in addition you need a long string (15 to 20 feet is more than enough). Tie bait to one end of the string. It should be weighted but not too heavily. A one ounce fishing sinker, a nut or an small rock tied securely to the end of the string will usually work. The best bait is pieces of fish but crabs eat almost anything. Chicken necks and backs are also perfect ... even hot dogs but they do not last long. You can even use crab to catch crabs. The process is simple. Tie the free end of the string to your bucket or float at the edge of the water. Gently toss the baited end of the string out into the water. Then watch the string. When a crab picks up the bait the string will start to move and straighten out as the crab tries to pull the food away from the beach. Just pick up the string and pull slowly and steadily. If you do not jerk, the tenacious crabs will not let go. When the crab and bait get close enough to the shore so that you can see them, scoop them up with the dip net. Transfer the crab to the holding container and toss out the bait again. If there are crabs, the action will be furious. More strings and baits and more crabs. There are a few cautions. I always require that participants wear tennis shoes in the water. The crabs will not really hurt them but there are often sharp objects like shells and glass that can cause serious cuts and ruin everybody's fun. The crabs have strong claws and they can hurt you. One of the claws is sharper than the other and it can cut the skin rather easily. The other crusher claw will hurt plenty but probably not draw blood. In any case, no one is going to lose a finger to a crab. You can pick up a crab by pinning the claws with your foot or using some other distraction and grasping the base (as close to the body as you can get) of the flat swimming leg between your thumb and forefinger. Done right, the crab is helpless. There is no way to get you with his pinchers. If you do it wrong, you will know it right away. Kids can be very proud of themselves when they learn how to pick up the crabs. If you and your family enjoyed catching the crabs, it is not over yet. You will also enjoy the process of cooking and cleaning them. It is very educational at the same time. And finally, the real enjoyment comes when you open a cold beer and sit down to enjoy the flavor of the fresh crab meat. Some of the best things in life really are free or at least inexpensive. I took a group to Club Med for a week. Obviously, the whole experience was terrific. But I also took them crabbing. At the end of the trip, most of the participants listed catching and eating crabs as their most memorable experience ... imagine that. You can click on the pages for cooking and preparing crabs right now if you want. But it isn't over yet. I have been writing about hard crabs. But crabs have to grow. To grow they need to leave their hard shell and when they do, the body is completely soft and it stays that way for several hours. This soft shell stage of the crab has to be one of the outstanding delicacies of the world. Give me a fried soft shell crab and you can have the shrimp and lobster.

Things to remember: The best crabbing is in warm weather (April through October in Sonora) Keep your eyes peeled for soft shell crabs. They have to be kept separately from the hard crabs. It sounds terrible, but the truth is crabs should be alive when you drop them in boiling water to cook them. If you want the crabs dead for cooking or have no choice, put them on ice as quickly as possible. The flavor deteriorates rapidly. The warmer the weather, the more fragile the crabs. In short, they die easier and lose their flavor faster. Once the crabs are cooked, they will keep for several days on ice without affecting the flavor.

Crab Boil Ideally crabs should be steamed but who can do that when they are on vacation. Boiling works fine. You will need a large pot and a source of heat to bring water to a boil. I suggest a quart of water for every three large crabs. You can use seawater. A large crab weighs about 12 ounces and measures seven or eight inches from point to point (the widest part of the shell). Lets assume, you have an eight quart (two gallon) pot. Add eight quarts of water to the pot. If using fresh water add a teaspoon of salt. If you have old bay seafood seasoning, a packet of spices for boiling crabs, or a can or jar of pickling spices, you can add one or two tablespoons to the water. I prefer several large cloves of garlic and a few chiltipin's or some crushed red pepper. None of these will cause a substantial change in the flavor of the meat. In fact, you can forget all spices and do just fine. Bring the water to a boil and add the crabs (best if alive). bring water to a boil and cook about five minutes or until the shells turn red. Remove from heat, pour off water and allow to cool. Once cool, remove the carapace or top shell from the crab body. There is a trick. Hold the crab's body in the open palm of your left hand. The alignment should be body upright and face on the side of your little finger. Place your thumb firmly over the joint of the back swimming leg not the carapace). Lift up at the point of the carapace that is over the fingers and it should come off easily. Pull out the gills and rinse out all the darker materials. The white meat is enclosed in the internal skeleton. The claws also have delicious meat. Be patient and you will find the technique. The Best Seafood Sauce One cup of ketchup One teaspoon of prepared horseradish Juice of one lemon Stir well and serve cold. Dip fresh crabmeat, shrimp, crabcakes, oysters, clams in this stuff and enjoy. The seafood sauces you buy preprepared are not in the same ball park. Click on the crab to learn about catching softshell crabs.

Seafood ... a first look..

SHRIMP.

Go to the HOTPAGE Do It Yourself Seafood page.

Buying crabs and crabmeat.

Catching your own crabs ... a real learning experience.

Soft Shell Crabs ... yes, they are here.

Catch and cook your own clams, mussels and snails.

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