Crabbing

Living on or near the ocean many people enjoy the opportunities and bounties that the sea provides. Being such a person, I am no different and since I love to fish I also enjoy crabbing for dungeness and red rock crab that are abundant in this area.

It is very important that first and foremost you get your fishing license and read the fishing regulations for your area. Knowing the rules around what you are fishing for can save you a lot of head ache and possibly a large fine.

Now prepare your crab bait. I like to use chicken for bait as it seems to catch a lot of crab. In fact the older and stinkier the chicken the better. I'll often get the chicken out a day or two ahead of my trip to let it sit out and get a little rancid. If you have a crab bait holder you might want to put it in as you are taking out the chicken so you don't have to handle it as much once it goes bad. Another good bait to use is claims as this is what the crab naturally feed on or fish guts work well too. In any case, I like to put the bait in the bait holder and toss it into a plastic bag to reduce handling.

When you are ready to start crabbing, tie your rope to the crab pot, making sure you have enough rope for the depth you are going. Then tie the bait to the net.

If you are fishing from a boat you will also need a buoy to tie the net to if you plan on leaving it for a while to pursue other activities. Check your regulations around the rules for this. Another boating option is that you can leave the net tied to your boat if you plan to stay with the net. If you are fishing from a dock you can just tie the rope to the dock.

Let the crab pot soak for a while. It is important to let the net or pot soak for at least an hour before you check it. Moving it around too much may scare off the crab. The best way to catch anything is to get it in the water as long as possible.

When you are ready to check it just pull up the net. If you have crab be sure to measure them as in most areas you can only keep crab that are a certain size. Refer to your fishing regulations for the specific size in your area. If you have any keepers then toss them in a bucket or cooler and try to keep them alive as long as you can. The fresher the meat the better.

Drop the net again and repeat the soak for more crab fishing.

So now that you have been crabbing and have come home with a nice catch. Now what do you do? Well now is the time to clean and cook your crab. Hopefully you were able to keep your crab alive till you got it home. If that is the case then you have to deal with how to kill them. There is a lot of controversy about boiling crab alive as many people consider this cruel. The other method is to knock them out before you boil them. The other thing you can do is stick them in the freezer. It is said that putting the crab in the freezer before you boil them makes them dormant and they are also easier to handle at that point. To knock the crab out just take a large chef knife and give them a good bonk on the back of their shell. Which ever method you choose is up to you. Also some people like to cook the crab and then clean them others clean them and then cook them. Again this is your choice as it really doesn't matter which comes first.

Here are some items you will need.

* A good chopping knife
* A large stock pot to cook the crab
* Sink and faucet.

Here are the steps to cleaning the crab.

* Pull of the back shell of the crab. This isn't that hard really just grab the side of the crab at the base and hold down the rest of the body as you pull the shell up. Its should lift right off.
* On the back side of the crab pull off the triangle flap on its belly.
* Now turn the crab over again and clean out the gills and any intestine. The intestine runs down the middle of the back. Some people also like to clean away the yellow mushy stuff in the crab. Others find this a delicacy and you can find recipes for them if you chose to keep it.
* Now break or cut the crab in half and chop off the head.
* Chop off the legs and rinse the crab once again.

Now its ready for eating. You can grab a mallet and some pliers or kitchen scissors and dig right in to the crab. If you would like to eat the crab legs as is then its often best served with a little garlic butter and lemon but you can implement your favorite crab recipe from here. Bon Appetit!