Crabbing Mandurah
Hi There,
Went crabbing with my brother in Mandurah in the estuary - after 1.5hrs in the water dropping 6 nets - we got 13 crabs which were sized - some of them were just size, but others were quite a bit over - it was rough as guts on the water and the wind was blowing quite badly - we probably would have got our limit of 20 had we stayed out for longer.
One thing that we found was that the yellow markers were far more visible than other markers in the choppy water (with the worst being the white ones which blended in withe the chop). We also found that there were heaps and heaps of blowies and that they were attacking the bait. In some of the nets I have those black baskets which we put trumpeters in for bait cut in half, and in the others on the bait clips I put chicken wings.
Was a good time out but would probably go in better weather next time. I also tried for the first time putting the crabs in an ice/water slush and found that the crabs went to 'sleep' and were easier to handle, and were also kept better for the trip home to perth.
.thumbnail.jpg "exmouth deep drop hunting")
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18040
Date Joined: 11/03/08
sounds like you had a good
sounds like you had a good day in spite of the wind. at least you got a good feed
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Ben Derecki
Posts: 1926
Date Joined: 10/10/07
did you find the trumpeter
did you find the trumpeter or chicken more successful danny?
dannyg
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 28/01/10
trumpeter
I found that the trumpeter worked best because I was cutting them in half and they were fully thawed out and bled a bit which probably helped the crabs smell them - the chicken wings were definately the go as well and didnt need to be replaced as much - for some reason the blowies are not so keen on them!
H.S. Chan
Posts: 587
Date Joined: 04/01/09
crabs always a good feel
crabs always a good feed dan, too bad and such a shame you dont eat them. Maybe you gotta find a certain way to cook them to make it better? Hate to know you miss out on something so good ay
dannyg
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 28/01/10
the Mrs loves them
since she paid for the boat as a present, I feel 'obliged' to catch the crabs (apart from the fact that it is fun) seeing that she enjoys eating them. I just dont like the taste.
H.S. Chan
Posts: 587
Date Joined: 04/01/09
a fisho that doesnt like
a fisho that doesnt like crabs.... ITS JUST NOT RIGHT I TELL YA! Sacreligious! (however you spell it). I figure out something different for ya somehow and someway and will spoonfeed you if i have to =P
JakeB
Posts: 262
Date Joined: 12/12/09
Nothing like a fresh feed of
Nothing like a fresh feed of crabs and a few cold beers...
. We managed 12 decent ones yesterday between 2 of us scooping in the Mandurah quays area, heaps of females and just undersize crabs around atm. looking good for the coming years.
dannyg
Posts: 77
Date Joined: 28/01/10
i love the cold beers part
LBG24kg - that is strange with all the females - we had a few of the undersize crabs in the nets, but only one female the whole time - all the ones that we kept were males.