Swan Crab Madness
Went down to the swan to a jetty near a well known big bream spot looking for river squid , and came across a few guys with buckets full of crabs. Was quite surprised to see a bag full of crabs at this time of the year, but proceeded to chuck a few baits and lures around with no real luck apart from bringing in crabs holding onto the bait.
A while after we arrived I started to shine the torch around and noticed crabs moving into the shallows everywhere I looked. I have never seen such a density of blue mannas in my life, they were literally 2 to the sq meter minimum around the jetty. Only problem was the majority were females, with only a few monsters males lurking deeper. There must have been some breeding event occuring as the males were often sighted latched onto a female.
It was quite the event and with a scoop net whoever was there could have bagged out during an hour of madness, which is rare from a jetty in my experience. Ended up keeping a couple for dinner myself, although they were covered in green gunge.The only downside was a couple that backed the car right up to the jetty and proceeded to take liberties with the bag limit. After i confronted them and they pleaded ignorance they hid there bucket in the boot and just walked the crabs to the car. After talking to others I found they have apparently been doing it all week. I just hope taking so many females doesnt ruin next years season as this spot has been producing consistently for a while.
Is this a common event for this time of the year and could it be related to rain flushing last week?
also, even after cooking and scrubbing the crabs, there was still a lot of green gunge on their shells. The meat tasted fantastic, but is the gunge toxic from the swan or just algae accumulation?
Cheers
Cam
No pics as it was too dark
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15653
Date Joined: 29/11/05
not just the swan
Its not just the swan, it seems to be statewide. I know they have been getting heaps in Karratha. I wen't down to the Bay of Rest (Exmouth) the other day and we set out nets, (which were all baited) by the time we zoomed back to the first one and did the run again we had 17 good sized crabs (both blues and females) We have a bag limit of 40 up here, but it takes 3 runs to get that and is just too easy and that's being selective. Speaking to some of the old locals, its the best run they've ever seen. My oldies have also been crabbing down near Denmark and the run of crabs and prawns has been amazing down there too, absolute monsters and plenty of them.
One wonders if the cockburn crab ban has had something to do with it or whether it was just a good recruitment...
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Reefmonkey
Posts: 711
Date Joined: 22/09/08
Exmouth
Saw a whole heap swimming outta exmouth to when we were up there trolling. Saw 7 swimming along the surface in lighthouse bay and a couple out behind the reefs north outta tantabiddi too, though to be very strange never seen em swimming out in the ocean before, all males too
Dave J.
Zikoux
Posts: 101
Date Joined: 01/01/11
I saw a guy at claremont
I saw a guy at claremont jetty with a 50 L esky full of crabs last night. jeezzzzzzzz
A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work.
championruby
Posts: 459
Date Joined: 20/01/11
mainly females??
mainly females??
Leemo
Posts: 3712
Date Joined: 22/02/07
remember not to just take
remember not to just take males ruby, gotta balance it out one way or another.....
bludgin' since 94'
championruby
Posts: 459
Date Joined: 20/01/11
Yeh don't worry i love eating
Yeh don't worry i love eating females, the body meat is beautiful.
But when ppl taking 30+ all female I get concerned about future stocks. Surely it only takes 1 male to breed with 10 females.
Saw some fuggin monster males sneakin up on the females. Would have been near a 20cm carapace. I almost jumped in after it he looked so good
southcity104
Posts: 1659
Date Joined: 27/01/09
was at augusta last week
and at the jetty on the surface at night there was literally hundreds!! Had the bream rod out with a jig head and picked out the monsters!
"Its a life style job"
fat belly dog
Posts: 8
Date Joined: 23/05/11
There is a 24 hour fishwatch
There is a 24 hour fishwatch number you can ring (1800 815 507)
Better to do something about it now rather than curse the lack of crabs in later years, fish for your children....
You dont have to confront people if it makes you uncomfortable, just take there rego number and date and send an e-mail or ring the 24 hour number of fish watch
http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/sec/feed/fishwatch/index.php?0803
championruby
Posts: 459
Date Joined: 20/01/11
Yeah mate have rang them in
Yeah mate have rang them in the past and had late responses. Often easier just to guilt them into leaving or just make them feel uncomfortable.
Problem was this was 930 pm so little chance of the fisheries arriving. I also couldnt see how much crab they had as it was all hidden from view, and they werent taking undersize (hard to do as they were all huge). Was still thinking about calling when they both jumped in the car and hooned off.
Brody
Posts: 1025
Date Joined: 06/02/07
Still call Fishwatch though,
Still call Fishwatch though, even if you are annoyed and don't think you'll get a response. The more calls they get the better, and the more chance of a good result in the future.
perth fisher
Posts: 132
Date Joined: 02/06/11
yes i agree, call
yes i agree, call fishwatch.... you can also try taking a pic with your phone, that tends to scare them
i have seen some guys catching undersize crabs for a number of days in a row...plus catching well over the 10 per person limit
I called fishwatch each time i saw them, plus gave them the make and colour and rego of the car (very useful for fishwatch)
also another guy i know who goes walking at night reported them
eventually one night fitchwatch was waiting and booked them
perth fisher
Posts: 132
Date Joined: 02/06/11
how quick do crabs grow ? if
how quick do crabs grow ? if you have a 5 inch crab, how old is it ?
wow, looking here it looks like crabs can reach min legal size in 10 months...
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CEwQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dpi.nsw.gov.au%2F__data%2Fassets%2Fpdf_file%2F0011%2F375860%2FBlue-Swimmer-Crab.pdf&rct=j&q=blue%20swimmer%20crabs%20growth&ei=8pXnTbSYGoLSsAOL_LDoDQ&usg=AFQjCNGecARDTnZocwdBp9k1iG6dX7aavg&cad=rja