OB-
I have been asked to go crabbing at Galveston next week and being I have never been before thought I would ask the OB for tips on what equipment I need. Would also like input on the rules I need to be aware of and aso what to exect.

I know this is asking for trouble form some ofthe crowd but please keep comments about "doctors", "shampoos", etc to a min

TIA

- Cane pole
- String
- Small nut (no jokes please)
- Bacon
- Net
- Bucket
- Beer

Tie string to pole. Tie nut to end of string. Tie on bacon about 2" up from nut. Catch the sh*t out of crabs. Make sure you fill the bucket up with water or the crabs will die. For every crab caught, drink one beer.


[This message has been edited by txaggie02 (edited 3/9/2009 5:02p).]

Not a chance in hell I'd eat anything I pulled out of the water around Galveston... esp. not a bottom feeder.

Don't use bacon.
Use chicken necks.String. Weight. Poles.
Buy twice as much beer as you think you will require.


Deliver Me!

If the surf is flat, you can even go set "crab lines" in the surf, and catch them right off the beach. Once they home in on your bait (chicken necks or fishheads work, too), they'll stay on it. A couple of poles and a string in between with a few chicken necks on it about 4 feet apart stuck into the first sandbar works...

not sure if there are any regs against a "crab trotline". It doesn't have hooks, after all.

quote:

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Don't use bacon.

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Why not? For years we used to always use bacon and it wouldn't take but about 20 seconds to catch em.

I am with the above poster though. I would catch them for fun.......and then donate them to all the Obama voters.

Having lived on the water most my life with a pier to crab from, I can say that chicken would be best to use with the techniques described above, but I have used bacon with decent results.

If you tie a whole string of bacon on there, you can pull in about 5-6 crabs at one time. You will almost never get that many on a single chicken neck.

We routinely do it in the surf, flat or not, it is just a lot more work when the waves are up.

Not to rain on your parade, but it will probably be too cold for them to be moving much. I went too early in the season one year and it sucked, more people than crabs caught. But, everything bout the chicken nets and such is right on. Just take a net with a long handle or on a pole, nothing sucks more than getting them within eyesight and they fall off right before you can reach them.

[This message has been edited by mneisch (edited 3/9/2009 8:55p).]

I would go regardless, it beats being at work. We have been baiting our crab traps on our pier for 2 weeks and have caught 6 crabs.

I would still go, its a fun experience, just a heads up.

Do not put the crabs in water, unless you want dead crabs. Cover them with a wet towel.

That's not true. You can keep them in water. However, just like every species that lives in the water, you have to change the water you are keeping them in. Everything will eventually die if you keep them in the same water for long periods of time.

Oh boy, another great debate.....

first thing you need is a fishing license.

It's better to just keep them on ice. Slows their metabolism down to almost nothing...and the little bastages will be easier to handle and shell and clean.

Don't know about crabbing in Galveston, but I do know a few guys that used to go hogging in CS. And no, I wasn't one of them......or atleast I am not willing to admit it.

+1 on the ice chest, throw them in there, they slow to almost no movement, then when time to clean it is easy to handle them. Thats how I always have done it.

I have seen bacon, chicken necks, and other stuff used. While bacon works well I always found I had to replace the bait more often whereas chicken necks lasted longer.

I hear you can just keep them alive in a nice purse...

Just so you know there is a general consumption ban on all blue crabs, speckled trout, and catfishes caught in the Galveston Bay system as per Texas Parks and Wildlife. The ban is due to elevated levels of PCBs and dioxins found in the tissue of these organisms. As far as crabbing gear is concerned, get yourself turkey necks at the store (cheapest bait) and tie them to some string and bring a net. Put them on ice and make sure you drain the cooler of any water frequently. If you crab in lower salinities watch out for alligator gar because they will take bait and pull the string right out of your hands.

For all of my time spent fishing down there I've never actually been "crabbing" with the chicken necks and cane-poles. I've helped Mrs. Finn's uncles who live down there (her mother & family are all BOI) run their crab traps.

I've decided I need to get a couple traps of my own and drop them off in the marsh when I'm fishing and pick them up when I'm done for the day. Anybody know where I can buy the traps or do I need to make them?

I know where you can buy them in San Leon.

airboat- pretty sure that's just the upper Galveston Bay system, not West Bay.

consumption ban info:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/consumption_bans/#coast

Houston/Galveston Area (Chambers and Harris counties)
Galveston Bay including Chocolate Bay, East Bay, West Bay, Trinity Bay and contiguous waters
Chemicals of Concern: Dioxin and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

For all catfish species and spotted seatrout, adults should limit consumption to no more than one, 8-ounce meal per month.
Women who are nursing, pregnant, or who may become pregnant and children should not consume catfish or spotted seatrout from these waters.
Houston Ship Channel upstream of the Lynchburg Ferry crossing and all contiguous water including the San Jacinto River below U.S. Highway 90 bridge
Chemicals of Concern: Dioxin, Organochlorine pesticides, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

For all species of fish and blue crabs, adults should limit consumption to no more than one, 8-ounce meal per month.
Women of child-bearing age and children under 12 should not consume any fish or blue crabs from this area.
Houston Ship Channel downstream of the Lynchburg Ferry crossing and all contiguous waters including Upper Galveston Bay north of a line drawn from Red Bluff Point to Five Mile cut Marker to Houston Point
Chemicals of Concern: Dioxin and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

For spotted seatrout, blue crabs and all catfish species, adults should limit consumption to no more than one, 8-ounce meal per month.
Children under 12 and women of childbearing age should not consume spotted seatrout, blue crabs, or any catfish species from this area.

Yup, not worth getting the sh*ts for 2 months over some crabs. It will still be fun to catch them though.

That isnt a symptom

How do PCBs and Dioxin affect people?

PCBs and dioxins have been found in soil, ground and surface water, air, sediment, plants, and animals in all regions of the world. PCBs and dioxins break down very slowly in the environment and accumulate in fatty tissue, skin, and internal organs of fish and other animals. The amount of PCBs/dioxins found in fish varies with species, age, size, fat content, diet, and surface water concentrations. Larger, older fish will generally contain higher levels of PCBs/dioxins than lean fish. Eating fish that contain PCBs may cause infants of women who have eaten many contaminated fish to have lower birth weights, delayed physical development, and learning difficulties. PCBs may affect the immune system, reproductive organs, skin, stomach, thyroid, kidney, and liver and may increase the risk of cancer. The types of PCBs that tend to concentrate in fish and bind to sediments happen to be the most carcinogenic components of PCB mixtures. Exposure to dioxins has been linked to suppression of the immune system, a variety of reproductive effects from reduced fertility to birth defects, skin disease, and cancer.

Pardon me and my ignorance...

What is causing the pollution to the waters? Was it the hurricane? Or is this something that has been going on for a while?

Just seems sad to me you can't go out and catch some crabs and then eat em...I mean I have never thought of crabs as a catch and release species.

Lots of good info here that can answer your questions:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/faq/fishboat/fish/pcbfaq.phtml

According to this map:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/seafood/MapsPDF/HSC%20UGB%20Blue%20Crab%20Advisory%20Map-2008.pdf
crabs are OK to eat south of the Bayport Channel. Clear Lake crabs are good and everything south of there, too.

i think it would be easy to catch crabs at on of those clubs just north of the galveston. Just throw a couple twentys out.


sorry, there had to be at least one joke when asking about crabs