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Crab Trapping to a Free Dinner

By: Dael Leathe Similar to fishing, crabbing with simplified gears as rapidly demystified the art of catching crabs. Now, anyone can purchase can easily spend a wonderful day out by the park and catch himself a free seafood dinner to bring back home.

But unlike fishing, crab catching is a far cheaper hobby. As compared to the fishing gears, a hobbyist could have his own crab trapping device for as little as two dollars.

An even cheaper alternative would be to make your own crab traps out of raw ingredients. A crab trap, which is usually smaller and lighter in weight than a crab pot, is a boxed-type device made out of welded wires with collapsible sides, with each of its side tied with a cord. The sidings of the crab trap lies flat on the floor the moment it is dropped to a portion of a water surface. At the center of the crab trap is bait, which is normally a chicken neck, tied at the base of the gear.

While crabs are known to be omnivores, they tend to eat more meat than plants. There are many other possible bait forms such as fish parts and bull lips, but it would be advisable to make use of the chicken necks as bait because chicken bones could hold on to the welded device.

The moment a crab gets to the center of the crab trap (underneath the water), the cord, which is attached to the top portion of each of the four sides, is pulled to allow the sides to rise and re-assemble itself into a box. Then the crab trap is pulled out from the surface of the water.

Crab traps are being used by hobbyists and families on a weekend day out in a park where freshwater crabs are bred and made available as recreational activity, or near freshwater bodies of water, such as rivers and lakes.

While more and more people have gotten into the hobby of crabbing, there are certain rules that regulate the hobby. Under such law are implementing rules and guidelines as to where these activities could be done. The usage of simple traps to catch crabs is less regulated by law, because crab traps are mostly used by individuals pursuing recreational activities, as opposed to commercial crabbers. The usage of crab pots to catch crabs has been mostly restricted to people who live by the waterfornt. Commercial crab catching has stricter guidelines, and comes with stricter penalties too. Regulations for commercial crabbing are found in sections of the law governing commercial fisheries.

Imagine the interests and surprises of friends and family members when you bring fresh crabmeat salad to your next outing? Crabs are definitely sumptuous, but the crabs we catch ourselves taste even better.