Handlining for crabs can provide incredible family fun
A family crabbing adventure can make great memories as well as provide delicious meals for little cost.
People can find many places to catch blue crabs along coastal Alabama. Crabs can live in fresh water, but thrive best in brackish to salty environments. Some people even reported catching the crustaceans as far up the Alabama River as Montgomery.
Many people catch crabs in nets or traps, but for the most family fun, try handlining. This doesn’t require much investment. Buy some heavy cord, a wide scoop net with a long handle and small mesh plus something to
hold the catch.
Cut lines long enough to reach the bottom with plenty of slack. Tie one end to an immobile or heavy object and bait the other end. Bait doesn’t need to break the bank either. Crabs eat practically anything. They readily devour any meats, but avoid soft baits like hot dogs or liver because crabs tear them apart easily. A few packs of chicken necks can provide family fun all day.
Any sloping shoreline, low dock or seawall makes a great place to run crab lines. Almost like fishing, throw the baited line into the water. When crabs take bait in their claws, they attempt to haul it away from their
armored cousins.
When a crab stretches the line, place the scoop net in the water under the line. Pull the line slowly toward the net and up to the surface as the greedy crab clings to the bait. When the crab goes over the net, scoop it from under and behind because a crab will instinctively scoot backwards
when alarmed.
Plop the crab into a sturdy container, like an ice chest. Cover the top to keep crabs cool and out of direct sunlight. Allow air to circulate in the container. Crabs can breathe air or water. Keep crabs moist, but not submerged unless using an aerator because crabs can quickly consume all the oxygen in the water and die.
Encased in its shell and protected by two ominously sharp claws, crabs don’t spook easily. Children can make noise, explore the shoreline and enjoy being kids. Let the children work the lines. If they miss a crab, so what. Other crabs will come around, but children remain small for such a short time. Catching good memories far outweighs catching another crab.
Immediately release all “berry crabs,” females carrying eggs. She carries her eggs or young under her abdomen. Get her back into the water unharmed as fast as possible because she’s carrying future generations. Crabs must reproduce prolifically because so many things want to eat them.
In my teen years, a neighbor once asked me to take her and her children crabbing. We headed to my favorite crabbing spot, an old
wooden platform
over the water next to a small shell beach. An unusually high tide covered the platform with about two inches
of water.
After getting the ladies set up with their lines and baits, I decided to fish and threw a cast net for bait. I caught a small bluegill and showed the fish to my neighbor’s youngest son.
As I showed the fish to the boy, one of the ladies started pulling in a crab line with something much bigger than a crab on the line. When she prepared to scoop the “crab,” about a 7-foot-long alligator garfish vaulted from the water almost at the feet of the ladies standing on the wet platform.
When the screaming level reached the decibel level of jet fighters taking off, the young boy holding the small fish dropped it onto the partially submerged platform where the women were standing in two inches of water. Without enough water to swim upright, the fish flopped around the ladies’ bare feet trying to make
a hasty escape.
More screaming immediately ensued as the women attempted to climb onto each other’s shoulders while uttering extremely loud, high-pitched tones, and some expressions directed at me not fit to print here. Apparently, the entire episode was my fault!
Handlining crabs can keep people busy on a warm day and make great family memories. Later, fresh boiled crabs can feed the family plus some friends to cap off a wonderful day of crustacean catching.
John N. Felsher is a professional freelance writer who lives in Semmes, Ala. He also hosts an outdoors tips show for WAVH FM Talk 106.5 radio station in Mobile, Ala. Contact him at
[email protected] or through Facebook.
