Edible Crab as bait

I went crabbing the other day and all we got were mainly edible crab most of which were hardbacks. Usually I'd be looking to use the normal green shore crab which peels at this time of year. What time of the year do the edible crab peel and what are they like as bait compared to the green shore crab?

I would have thought that any crab would be good. The edible crabs does tend to be bigger with more 'meat' on it so Im sure those hungry fish would be right up for it.

I've been collecting peeler from the rocky shore near the house for over a month and the majority have been the edible variety. Can't say whether the fish prefer it as the birtes down here have been on the low side.

Carefull there boys / anglers

Those edible crabs have a min landing size and are therefore protacted by law.

But!! north here they cast in june-july. mostly five mile at sea!

Apart from that, all green crabs here are as hard as hard crabs

aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm away

Dave :oops:

I think I heard somewhere that they were a top wrasse bait. Any truth?

These crab,along with velvet swimmers, were always prized as a bass ,codling and conger bait. They don't generally peel until June/July as stated and then only at low water. Unlike common shore crab, they do not survive long out of oxiginated water. There are no big supplies available around dublin that I am aware of - where they are found, you could go through 50 crab without finding a peeler or crispie. Southern venues are better. It you can get them and are deliberately targetting bass or rock codling, they are without doubt a superb bait, outscoring the common variety. I have no doubt they would work on wrasse but have never had enough available to use them regularly.

Thanks Cooke,
It was a Dublin venue where we got them but I went through about 100 without one peeler my mate the same but getting around 3 peelers!

I read somwhere that only 10% of crabs are peeling at any one time, including the two peak periods in Spring and Autumn. Also in this months TSF Kevin Brain of KB Baits mentions:

In the UK spring through to summer is generally best...over here we're at the end of the peeler season in march. The crabs peel through the winter...

Oh weel looks like we missed it guys :?:

Are you saying that edible crabs peel through winter or all crabs do :shock: ????????

I was crabbing last week and took two dozen large cock crab. The big moult will happen any day now. The water temperatures in the UK are always a few degrees up on ours and this probably explains why their main moult is over quicker. East coast crab peak through April/early May depending on weather. Most of these crabs are the large males. After that through the summer, it is mainly females and smaller males until late september/october when the large males peel again. The season is realistically mid march to mid november with either extreme dodgy. Of course, it you are lucky enough to be down south, you can get crab all year round.

Sorry- forgot to mention that these were common crabs - not edibles.

Are you saying that edible crabs peel through winter or all crabs do :shock: ????????

I read that comment in the TSF magazine and am sure that it refered to the green shore crab. I have read in a number of sources that here in the south west the peeling goes on throughout the year. I can vouch for this as I have found both edible and green as peelers & softies.

Slightly off the point but can I bash a hardshell crab that has eaten my expensive frozen peeler crab and use it as bait as a revenge sort of thing? :D Or is it that peelers when peeling emit a more appealing aroma and a fresh bashed hardshell would be no good?

quarterflounder,
hardback crabs are not much good for bait unless you use small ones for wrasse. when moulting the crabs give off a strong scent of pheromones and it is this that attracts the fish. female crabs can only breed when they are soft so they produce a scent to attract a male partner before their shell hardens and the bass and other spieces are then attracted to thius scent as they know the crab has got no armour and would make easy prey. the pheromones is the yellow gunky stuff in the crab.

Just to add to the confusion! The weird thing is that the diet of bass is mainly hardback according to Mike Ladle in hooked on bass so can anyone tell me why it therefore isnt a good bait on our hooks except for wrasse?

i have caught numerous bass, cod and flounder with hardbacks in their gut, but never caught anything other than wrasse on hardback bait. when bass are looking on the bottom for food they come across hundreds of crabs either by sight or hear them scuttling away not to pass up on an opportunity they will eat them up. try putting one on the hook and they are pretty much motionless when weighted down and they have got nowhere near the scent of a peeling crab. so to catch a bass on hardback the fish would have to swim right on top of it as it has no scent or movement to attract the fish to your bait and with hundreds of other crabs to choose from don't suppose there is much chance.

hope that makes sense.