crab baiting technique

Hi

I have been using Lug and Sand ell for awhile with decent results. But good size (black) lug seem to be hard to come by near me now an hour of digging might only get 5 or 6(I think its the time of year). I tried PowerBait soft lug worm today and that was a waste of time and e5.99. So I have been putting off using crab, but now seems the time. I have read this http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bait ... 0crabs.htm and also searched youtube for "how to" videos. But before I go chopping up crabs and making a mess of the little fellas do you guys have any tips on how to present them on the hook, do I remove all the shell and just tie the meat with the elastic thread to the hook. The crabs near me (kerry coast) all have hard shells either big redish ones or small green fellas.

I seen some folks leave the shell on then put the hook through the body and a few of the bass I have caught still have pincers in their stomach, but I cannot see how that could work for a 3lb bass.

I know to most of ye this is basic stuff, but never needed to do it before.

Thanks

The most common use of crabs for bait are as:

(1) Hard Back Crabs: These are generally the crabs you find in your typical rock pool or in or around sea weed and rocky areas. The most successful use I've had for these are fishing for species like wrasse. They can be a great bait, usually, but not always, float fished. If float fishing a hardback crab, you generally won't need any bait elastic as you won't be casting any great distance and once hooked through the outer hard shell, there'll be enough hold to allow a not-too-forcefull cast.

(2) Peeler Crabs: At certain times of the year, all crabs will shed their outer hard shell to make room for their inner growing bodies! While crabs are in this state, they're usually not as easy to come by as their hard-back relatives! Given their vulnerability in this state, they usually are tucked away in some secure location. While in this state, they seem to exude extra chemicals that some fish find hard to resist! If using peeler crabs, it's best to strip them of all their outer hard shells and just use their soft bodies. (Remove their legs and claws which by the way, after stripping the shells from them, can also be used as bait!!). In this case, you should use bait elastic to help keep the bait presented "appetisingly".

If your quarry is bass, peeler crab is your man! (I don't know anyone that has used hardback crab to catch bass - but I'm open to correction on this!!). Lots of tackle shops will sell frozen peeler, which in my experience, is just as good as fresh peeler. (Having said that, you don't need peeler crab to catch bass, but that's another story - I'm sticking to your specific question on crabs!!!).

Hope this helps somewhat and best of luck to you in your quest. I'm sure others will have other info to add.

Welcome to the forum & tight lines!!

Martin.

Hi

Thanks for the response mga. It sounds like peeler crabs are the ones I am looking for, never had wrasse but I am mad about bass. I was in my nearest fishing shop 2 days ago and the peeler crabs were e5.00 for 4. I could not believe that, it goes against the grain to buy em, so I will be going searching for them. Have a few spots in mind that have lots of rock pools and this is near the time of year for them according to http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/colle ... eeler-crab.

How long should one peeler last I know that question is subjective and depends on a number of factors but trying to figure out how many peelers I need per expedition.

Thanks

you should get 2 baits from the body of a medium sized peeler and another 1 or 2 baits from the legs and claws of you peel them properly. if the crab is big you might get a 3rd bait from the body if your using smallish hooks.
to find out if its a peeler or not twist the last segment of a leg a little and pull it gently. if its a peeler the shell should come off and leave the leg behind. if its a peeler bring it homeand keep it cool and moist till its ready to pop. if you have a look at the back of the crab, the shell should be lifting or cracking if its ready to "pop". when the crab is ready to use the legs and claws will be much easier to peel.

http://www.planetseafishing.com/tutorials/read/bait-of-the-art-peeler-crabs-part-1/

http://www.planetseafishing.com/tutorials/read/bait-of-the-art-peeler-crab-part-2/

Really good video on peeler crabs
[url]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ImGT-8nFR2o[/url]

Thanks everyone, all I ever needed to know about Peeler crabs. Searching youtube for crabs can be very disturbing

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BDreQnmv ... re=related

Found this also