My wife had been bugging me about going crabbing and we had not been down to the coast since February so we came down yesterday. What a beautiful day. Anyway, caught a few more than a dozen keepers (and many more non-keepers) but, every single one was a female. Not one single male caught all day long. Can anyone explain that? I have been crabbing since I was a little kid and don't ever recall a day of catching nothing but females. Also, will they get bigger as the Summer progresses?
summer is spawning season for blue crabs- i've noticed that males and females seem to occur in different places. females move into brackish water up the rivers to release eggs, and males are found more in full salt. i've also noticed that in very shallow water (up on oyster mounds, in the surf at the beach) during the summer, i usually see almost all females.
this is certainly not true for 100% of crabs, but if i were guessing, you were a fair distance from the coast and/or crabbing in just a couple feet of water?
they will get bigger, and the ones that look the "dirtiest" are also usually the most meaty because they've been in their current exoskeleton for a longer time. "rusty jimmies" are the best!
Crab Question
Posted - 06/16/2012 : 2:39:30 PM
