how to catch a feed of crabs in morton bay

[rosco1974]

g'day,
after reading the other threads on how to catch fish in morton bay landbased and from a boat i have decided to start this thread as well, a bit of background on myself i grew up in lota just 50mtrs from the old boatramp there and started crabbin at a tender age or 4 with my oldies,having a pro crabber as a neighbor and also my oldman had a few of his mates also procrabbers i was blessed wih the right info from a early age, at the age of 6 i would set 2 pots down the creek with my oldlady and use to get atleast 4 keepers a day,but mind u this was in 1980,at the age of 8 myoldman bought his 1st half cab boat a seafearer venus with a 90hp merc on it ,b4 this we had an old brooker v12 with a 6hp jono on it,this is when i really got into sandcrabbin,with all the right people with info around us we use to kill the sandies up too 200 in a couple of hrs,kept the rellies in crab,we use to crab around st hellena ,green,small ships was the furtherist we ever went,waterloo bay was once full of crabs as was the flats just out from wynnum creek,so now into the info part on how to get a feed of crabs,

1. always use the freshes bait on hand to u,the old wives tale of the more rotten the bait the better,muddies dont mind it but with fresh bait u will catch more muddies and sandies,the best bait by far i have found is tailor frames then mullet ,whiting frames chicken,reef fish isnt that flash for sandies but u will still do ok with the muddies,a good trck for you bait is to make bait bages out of gutter guard using maspro clips to stich the 2 side of the bag leavin the top open to fill with bait and use your bait clip to attach to pot

2. now the pots,in the old days we where blessed with being able to use the old whiches hat dillies,now that this is no option there is a great debate on the old cheap b.c.f pots or the more expensive pots like the crab n gear pots,to be honest i have used both in the last season and both have caught crabs none better than the other[my opinion],i now use the crab n gear pots as these are alot quicker and easier the erect than the b.c.f. pots,i have the pop up pots or the top lift pots,but for 1st timer crabbers the cheaper ones work,make sure to lable your pots with name and address as per regs

3.now the ropes and floats on the pots,i work on 2.5-3 times the depth for the lenght or the ropes on the pots.i use lead weights on the ropes at around the 2.5mtr apart to keep the ropes well under water and less chance of a boat cuting them of with there props, the floats i use are the 6inch round ones with my name and address clearly marked.if i am crabbin in over 12mtrs of water i attach another half of a float to 1.5mtrs of rope tied to the 6 inch float,i do thisbecause when the current is really running 9 times out of 10 the 1st float will go under the waves and makes it hard to see there for the 2nd trailer float is spotted easy

3. times of year to crab,for sandies i find about the 2nd week of the north easters in september the crabs will hit between green and st hellena,in the middle of the bay a bit earlier,u get them here for around 6 -8 weeks then u get another run midway through march -mid may,now muddies are a bit different,the best time i have found for muddies is a week or so after the ekka,the boat passage really fires this time of year,

4. now where to crab for sandies,at the start of a new season it is best to set your pots at all different depths,i do this by starting deep with the 1st pot an simply move up the bank each pot i set at a different depth,eg 1st pot 7mtr,2nd pot 6.8mtr and so on till u have set you pots,when u check them the 1st time you should find a rough depth where u are gettin more crabs,crab along sandy weed banks,just off the shallow reefs around the bay,muddies i look for steep concaved banks,drains,really soft mud,

5. the most important thing is no run no fun,in saying that i have found that if there is bugger all run in the tide your catch rate will be bugger all,have also found that crabs will work better on either the morning run or the nite run,last season they worked better on the nite tides the season b4 it was the morning run

anyway am sure others can add some tips and helpfull info for us all to learn from,i know others will agree and dissagree what i have said but this is what i have done for 32yrs and i recon i do alright,and i recond from now on instead of callin the low lifes who raid our pots sharefarmes call them how we should THIEVES

cheers rosco

mods make into a sticky if you think its worth it
here is a bit more info

6/ i cut the gutter guard 500mm and fold in half and put maspro clips bout 30 mm apart as i use whiting frames for bait,if u use mullet u could put them further apart

7/ the lead i put on the rope is cut at 40mm wide and 75mm long...just wrap the lead around the rope and pinch it tight with a pair or multi grips

8/ i use the different colour trailing float to identify my pots easyier..

[Fish_gutz]

Thanks for the Tips Rosco , plenty of great info there . Cheers Andrew

[Seahorse]

great info.
thanks for sharing.

greg

[charleville]

Rosco, you are a hero!!!!


I have been asking the organisers for a session on crabbing at the various fishing seminars for a few years and also have given suggestions for magazine articles on same etc and whilst there has been the odd bit of a response from time to time, the info offered has usually been all a bit superficial.

At long last, some advice from someone who knows some of the ins and outs about crabbing.

Many thanks for this. Any more advice on same is very welcomed.

[backhoe]

Thanks Rosco
Do you find wind direction plays a big part with sandies. I find it's much better in a S or SE breeze then anything from the north. Is this a general rule or do I just have to find different spots in a northerly, Also find about the only time I get Jennies in any numbers is when the wind is from the north.
Regards
Backhoe

[raffles]

Thanks Rosco. Some good advice there. I've lived in Lota last 20 odd years and always crabbed St. Helena and Green, now with St Helena gone, where I did best, and now the dillies are gone also makes it a bit harder. Anyway thanks again and all the best. Raffles.

[Axl]

Cheers rosco for the thread some great advice there mate.

I managed to get the boat in the water for the first time in 3 months last weekend and ended up with four keepers from the back of Green the pots will sit in the shed now until next season comes around.

As raffles has said it sure is getting harder to get a feed with all the new rules.

[rosco1974]

thanks fella's,in the last yr or so have had quiet a few pm's on the subjects of crabbin,only glad to help out,backhoe as on the wind i often fnd with sandies i get more in september while the north easters are blowing,i recon the wind deffinatley blows them around when they are on the move,not long now till they will show again,
cheers rosco

[bondy99]

Thanks rosco1974.

Good info and advice based on your experience. Thanks for sharing

[Scott Ashe]

Thanks Rosco lots of useful info there, can't wait to get back into it when it's warmer again.

Cheers
Scott

[rosco1974]

anyone else want to add any info i have missed,or have some more tips

[Benben86]

What's the best chance for a landbased angler to get a feed. I have caught muddies around mangroves but not in big numbers.

[RayDeR]

g'day,


2. now the pots,in the old days we where blessed with being able to use the old whiches hat dillies,now that this is no option there is a great debate on the old cheap b.c.f pots or the more expensive pots like the crab n gear pots,to be honest i have used both in the last season and both have caught crabs none better than the other[my opinion],i now use the crab n gear pots as these are alot quicker and easier the erect than the b.c.f. pots,i have the pop up pots or the top lift pots,but for 1st timer crabbers the cheaper ones work,make sure to lable your pots with name and address as per regs

I have read the regs [The use of inverted dilly apparatus (witches hats) is to be phased out. The use of this apparatus will be prohibited from 2 April 2010. - http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/28_3065.htm]

I have been given some dillies where the net is suspended from the hoop - it hangs down - and ropes are tied to the hoop like in the pic on the DPI page. The person who gave me these tells me they are not witches hat dillies and are still legal. Is this correct? I want to use these for sandies.

Ray De R

[matt fraser]

G'day Rosco,

Thanks fo openly sharing your knowledge on this subject. I only started crabbing the bay last summer, and your tips then helped out heaps. This post is full of more valuable info.

I've now got 8 of the BCF pots, they are holding up fairly well so far. Can I ask for some more indepth info.

Can you post some pics of your bait bags and the maspro clips? I found the way I was tying the bait bags in was time consuming and a couple of times I didn't tie them in well enough and the whole bag was stolen.

Also where do you get the lead weights from. I've been using the telecom blue and yellow rope, without weights, but can see that I need weights.

Oh and where do you get the maspro clips from?

Compared to my usual fishing trips, the crabbing can take up a bit of time, but most of the time it was worthwhile when we ended up with a good feed of crabs to go with some squid and sweet whiting. Bring on spring and summer.

Cheers

Matt

[sleepygreg]

MODS....any chance of making this one a 'sticky' along with the other two 'how to' threads?????