Beach fishing with crabs as bait
Submitted by Rig on Sun, 2012-09-02 15:01
Hey Guys
I was just thinking about some baits I have been using off the beach over the last few years. In the midwest those little sand crabs that make the holes everywhere seem to me like a reasonable snack for a mulloway/snapper/dhu at the right spots off the beach. I have tried using them when i can catch one but havent had any hookups. Has anyone had any success with these?
tim-o
Posts: 4657
Date Joined: 24/05/11
Few years back I was bait
Few years back I was bait casting mulies off chinamans in Kalbarri at sunset. The sun went down and the bait ran out but the beers hadnt so I trapped a rock crab with the butt of the rod and hooked the last hook on the gang into one of the leg joints. Every cast (new crab) yeilded a good size tarwine, suprising considering the size of the crab. I will not hesitate to use crab again, mullas and snapper eat them. Iv caught size manners at the esheds and cut them in half as a bait. I was fishing on the sound last nite I had little manners swimmin up to the lights, was so tempted to net one and send it back with a hook in it
I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
stevebw23
Posts: 155
Date Joined: 12/11/11
bluebone/baldies love those
bluebone/baldies love those little crabs, used them a fair bit when i was working offshore from Dampier.
Symes Plumbing & Gas. No job too small, servicing all northern suburbs
carnarvonite
Posts: 8671
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Baldies and gummies
Baldies and gummies love them.
Best way is to poke the hook straight through the carapace and use a long trace on a running sinker for baldies and just bait cast them for gummies if you are on the beaches round Esperence. They will come right up in to the suds to grab them so you just let it roll around.
Bury a small bucket to the lip and put a bit of bait in it, once its quiet they will come out after the bait and drop in the bottom all ready for you to collect.
Rig
Posts: 2925
Date Joined: 27/12/06
Baldies
Yeah I have caught Baldies with them before. I was wondering if anyone had had any luck on the typical sandy beaches where they are found and your more likely to come across mulloway
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Found them
I have found the white crabs inside nearly every gummy ive seen caught from the shore. I have tried them a few time with no luck but a friend uses them all the time and says they work well.
bitten
Posts: 803
Date Joined: 07/04/10
i used them when i was trying
i used them when i was trying for dhus at lucys mate didnt get any dhu but got heaps of wrasse
im sure they would work for mulloway its just hard to take that risk on an untried bait and risk catching nothing
squires
Posts: 8
Date Joined: 02/11/12
they work on sting rays
i used them once trying to catch mulloways got nothing but a big sting ray
i live to fish
Bungel
Posts: 290
Date Joined: 12/10/08
Its another good bait that
Its another good bait that on its day will catch you a feed for sure.
I try then all the time, especially when fishing off the rocks ( different crabs though ) .. just break one of the last legs off and manouver the hook through there and back out the solid shell. a bit of bait elastic or a few half hitches to secure the bait in a presentable way... But alas, i have NEVER had anything take one yet. I know they are damn good bait, and big snapper or dhu fish would surely get stuck into them.. along with many other species.
Have filleted many a fish and found the remains of crabs in the stomach. It could be more of a time of year thing, or better during/after a storm??.. They are more likely to have been worked up from there hiding spots or washed off the rocks and make for an easier feed.
Gulp crabs, have used them a few times for limited success. A few small snapper back home in NZ. They are known to be dynamite on certain species that hunt the sandy bottoms looking for exactly that, crabs. Not sure what species are like that in Western Aussie??