Kayak Crabbing

[deptrai]

Is this a thing? I'm moving to TX tomorrow and bringing my crab/lobster traps. In Oregon, we start off the day by dropping our crab traps. Go fishing all day and come back at the end to collect our crab.

[impulse]

Works great where I live in Sea Isle (West end of Galveston Island). Most of my neighbors keep crab traps in the water whenever they're in G-Town.

I don't, because I'm on blood thinners and shucking/eating blue crabs makes me bleed like a stuck pig. But we throw crab traps in the water (along with piggie perch traps) when the kids come to visit.

Best bait is the fileted fish carcass, but chicken necks and legs work when there's no fish yet. We're on a canal, but some of the neighbors run a string of traps in the middle of the bay and do quite well (some days...)

[TexasJim]

I catch them now and then while kayak fishing with shrimp in the Coastal Bend. They won't let go until you try to lift them out of the water. It seems that I always catch them when I don't have a bucket aboard to stash them in! I run my landing net under them and they let go into the net. There's lots of big blues to be caught and invited home for a hot bath and dinner.

Welcome to Texas! TexasJim

[SWFinatic]

Welcome to Texas! Lots of crab up and down the Texas coast. Check the laws on crab traps and bait. As mentioned filleted carcasses work great for crab bait but it is illegal to use game fish for bait. Cut Ladyfish or commonly referred to as skipjack also works great.

[impulse]

Welcome to Texas! Lots of crab up and down the Texas coast. Check the laws on crab traps and bait. As mentioned filleted carcasses work great for crab bait but it is illegal to use game fish for bait. Cut Ladyfish or commonly referred to as skipjack also works great.

Good catch on that. It's very irritating to see (and smell) a bunch of red and trout carcasses casually tossed back after the meat has been removed. Not to mention the 100 yards of stench when they go into the bins nearby. I recall last winter during a low tide when there were dozens of reds and trout tossed back at the public (boat ramp) fish cleaning station, not decomposing in the cold water. Normally invisible, but for the low tide and clear water. Pretty heartbreaking.

I've never understood how it's better to waste the carcasses than it is to put them to good use, catching crabs and piggy perch for bait.

[karstopo]

Absolutely, I did the same, go out to fish, drop two or three traps and a few hours later get a dozen or so keeper sized blue crabs. Once in a while a few stone crabs.