I Want To Catch Crabs

[TahneeMaree]

yes I havn't attempted to catch them there yet, was just curious if I was allowed to, might have to find somewhere else. no signage though where I know of people going, I have seen old traps around and people go fishing there so I always thought it was legal. can you catch crabs by hand or with spear? thanks.

I wouldn't try catching crabs with a spear in QLD... if you do, MAKE SURE you're not aiming at Jennies (females) as it is illegal to keep/kill jennies...

 

[waruikazi]

It's a shame you guys can't keep the Jens, they have much much sweeter meat than the bucks. I never let the jens go.

Here's some pics i just found of me and my mates spearing some in Kakadu

Delicious!

 

[chickensnake]

tie the claws up and put them in the freezer for5 mins so they go to sleep then you can just drop them in the boiling water easily without having to fight them to get in lol hope that helps

 

[SyKeD]

Blue Swimmers are the best eating crab imo.... my granfather use to go crabbing all the time, caught heaps of them soo tasty!!!!

 

[waruikazi]

tie the claws up and put them in the freezer for5 mins so they go to sleep then you can just drop them in the boiling water easily without having to fight them to get in lol hope that helps

Seriously unless you are storing them tieing them up is a waste of time, just ice them in an eski and drop them into the pot or stab them like i described.

 

[TahneeMaree]

i think in some states you can keep jens that are past a certain size? Apparently they stop breeding once they get over this size? Sorry for all the question marks lol, I'm just making guesses based on what I have heard...

 

[Sdaji]

if you go crabbing in a protected zone and get caught, the fisheries officers have the power to take EVERYTHING that you used to aquire the crabs, so be nice lol, cause if they want to they can take your pots, boat and even your car... AND issue oyu with a fine... so make sure you look up where the protected zones are... they're usually signed very well tough...

What about if I was using my mate to swim down and grab them for me? Could they take him?

 

[pythons73]

If you want to catch crabs,go into your nearest town for the night,hook up with a few stray women,and with any luck you will get some crabs..Sorry wrong crabs..LOL...MARK

 

[PhilK]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread guys, but I got 4 crab pots for Chrissy. I was hoping just for the rectangle ones, but Santa got me the round pots with 4 entry holes.

I have a couple of questions that are probably pretty dumb...

Question 1: When they are out of the water on the ground they are just collapsed. There doesn't seem to be a mechanism to keep them 'standing'.. I assume the float does that? But what if the water level drops? Then won't the whole thing just collapse and prevent any crabs from entering? When I take the pot out to get the crabs out they will just collapse too.. won't that be a pain in the bum to get them out of a collapsed pot?

Question 2: the pots came with 4 floats, but they didn't come with any rope.. What length of rope should I attach to the floats? What TYPE of rope should I use and what knot?

EDIT: Waruikazi I can't believe you could spot them walking around.. I've never seen a muddy walking about.

Thanks very much again for all your help!

 

[Elapidae1]

In western australia it is illegal to spear crabs cause you cant measure them before there dead

 

[gunny]

they should have 4 little black 25ml pipe stands attached to the bottom of the pot that keeps them standing. they will have a little groove in them that the top ring of the pot sits in.

 

[chickensnake]

The black pieces of pipe are what hold the crab pot up, they have a grove in them and all you have to do is push it up under the top metal ring. LOL dont stray too far from your crab pots "pot poachers" will always find, check and steal your pots and whatever is in them. I walked 30mins through mangroves thet were that thick i could only see a meter or so ahead of me to hide a crab pot, when i went to check it the next day i found an open trap footprints around it and an empty stubby in my crab pot.

 

[PhilK]

Oh is that what the black pipes are for? They're all tied together like a little steeple above the pot so I thought that's what you tie the float too...

Pot poachers are slime.. I can't believe someone would do that.

 

[gunny]

On the radio up here a bloke rang up complaining because he had pulled up someones crab pot and they had put hooks through the rope injuring his hands. The next call was the owner of the pots giving the last caller a mouthfull telling him it served him right for trying to rip off his pots. was a good show lol

 

[TahneeMaree]

Yeah, We've had many pots slashed beyond a hope of repair, if they're gonna steal your crabs they could at least have the decency to take the time to undo the pot. >_>

 

[waruikazi]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread guys, but I got 4 crab pots for Chrissy. I was hoping just for the rectangle ones, but Santa got me the round pots with 4 entry holes.

I have a couple of questions that are probably pretty dumb...

Question 1: When they are out of the water on the ground they are just collapsed. There doesn't seem to be a mechanism to keep them 'standing'.. I assume the float does that? But what if the water level drops? Then won't the whole thing just collapse and prevent any crabs from entering? When I take the pot out to get the crabs out they will just collapse too.. won't that be a pain in the bum to get them out of a collapsed pot?

Question 2: the pots came with 4 floats, but they didn't come with any rope.. What length of rope should I attach to the floats? What TYPE of rope should I use and what knot?

EDIT: Waruikazi I can't believe you could spot them walking around.. I've never seen a muddy walking about.

Thanks very much again for all your help!

Question one has been answered... lol can't beleive you couldn't work that out

Question two: I usually use about 10-12m of rope just tied off with a blood not, any nylon rope will work. If you look at your pot chances are there will be a peice of rope that you can tie onto, don't use it! Instead you should tie straight onto the main body of the pot, i've often seen that rope snap.

My last tip is to look after your pots! When you store them it is a good idea to hose them down so you get the salt off otherwise they rust really fast. Also keep them in the shade cause the UV will damage the mesh and rope material.

 

[chickensnake]

Also make sure you take the bait out!! A guy where i live left his fresh bait in a pot and just threw it in his shed, the next week he went to use the pot and found a carpet python in it lol.

 

[PhilK]

Righto thaks guys... I'm feeling pretty stupid I didn't work out the pipes!

I was told to be careful with the ropes as certain ropes are very slippery when wet.. So waruikazi do you mean just tie it onto the metal ring?

Cheers guys, hopefully will catch something! Going to Bribie soon, and getting a good kayak tomorrow so will give them a go!

 

[jinin]

Muddies: Mangroves, mainly under/in crevices.etc i use a piece of metal wire with a hook on the end, to tap around inside the crevice , if you hit a a crab, you'll know it, But you don't want to injure the crab you just want to know whether one is there, then you can place a bait. Another thing with the wire, most muddies will fight it off, they grab onto it and you can pull em out of their hole. To kill the crabs i just put them into a deep sleep(in the freezer for 1/2 an hour) then into the pot! Good luck!

 

[waruikazi]

Righto thaks guys... I'm feeling pretty stupid I didn't work out the pipes!

I was told to be careful with the ropes as certain ropes are very slippery when wet.. So waruikazi do you mean just tie it onto the metal ring?

Cheers guys, hopefully will catch something! Going to Bribie soon, and getting a good kayak tomorrow so will give them a go!

That's it.