Good news Greg. Let’s hope that is a great sign for next year. I’m not giving up yet. I think I will try Sunday. It appears we might have a little sunshine finally. I think it will be terrible fishing but after all this rain, I am looking to get outdoors.
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Saturday will be my last day down south I think. It won’t be good but I’m hoping to get a dozen or so and I plan to deep fry them based on @jcostiones tip. Wish me luck 
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Use lot’s of your favorite seasoning which I assume is old bay up there.
I got 5 yesterday…terrible day. It’s been raining a lot here so that doesn’t help. I got 4 and then 1 more in the trap at night so I present the breakfast of the day, along with some pork roll. And yes, I’m going to fry some up today if I get any. Football and crabbing
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Any good fried crab tips? I have two so far today and the games are about to come on. So hopefully I can get a few more and let this chicken soak.
I’ve never fried them myself, only had them at Galveston restaurants where I’m going soon for a weeklong seafood orgy. I do know that it’s easy to under/overcook them, especially overcook.
I would try doing one as a trial.
A reminder for NJ crab fans, the commercial season opens on December 1st
I might be getting a bushel on opening day. Stayed tuned!
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Wow, I thought the season would be winding down with the cold water.
In Texas the season lasts year round except for ten days in February when all crab traps are banned like the ones used commercially.
The game wardens round up all the “ghost” traps, the ones that aren’t fished and doom any crab or finfish that makes their way in. Good program. Crabbing is slower in the winter where the water in the bays can reach the 40’s and they hunker down in the mud but must venture out for a meal and they’re trapped.
How are they caught there?
commercially
They are in the mud now. The boats are gearing up as we speak getting ready for the season opening tomorrow. They drag big “rakes” (commonly called dredges) behind the boat and the crabs tumble into the net behind the rake.
This is article is about my town, middletown. Belford is part of Middletown and I grew up there. It is an old fishing town. This shows how they crab…
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I think I’m going to get a whole bushel. It’s a lot of crab! They are cold so they don’t fight and they are stacked nicely. It is probably 60- 70 crabs or so last time I counted. Bring some beer and come on over 
It is cool. You can run warm water over them in the sink as you rinse them off and they suddenly come out of hibernation and start fighting lol. If I score tomorrow I’ll get some pics.
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Good article, this 'splains everything.
I purge crabs and crawfish in the sink changing the water several times, you have to keep changing it or they’ll use up the oxygen and die.
I’ll do that but I’ll have to quit my job and bunk on your couch for a few months. Does the invitation still stand?
Crabs can stay alive for at least 3 days with no water, probably 4. They can get totally dry and live. I might tell a story soon about my 78 buick. Lol
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Sure, you just buy the beer and shell the crabs
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We went crabbing once and the next day my friend heard a noise in the bed of his truck. It was a crab crawling around as this was Houston in the summer so it was 90 plus. They can take the heat as well.
It’s always 90-100 for five months unless we get a juicy little tropical storm or depression, emphasis on little. By the time August rolls around people are practically begging for one with 1-10 inches of rain but about every 20 years we get 40 plus inches, see Claudette, Allison, and Harvey. I’ve also been through 3 major hurricanes and too many lesser storms to count. It’s all part of nature and the flushing is good for the bays.
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Then I’ll have to bring the Wifeacita along. I introduced her to the joys and wonders of the blue crab and she has become a master picker. She’s very methodical and doesn’t leave a speck of meat and then turns her attention to what I’ve left.
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I used to find crabs in my uncles van all the time. We would pull up and shut the car down and suddenly hear noises. At that point we knew a crab was walking around. Of course we would find dead ones too.
So my story… I was probably 20 and I had this 78 black Buick that I called the “land yacht”
It was a monster car! …Bigger than anything you can imagine. I have to think of the model.
One day I got hammered after catching a good haul and forgot I had them in the trunk. Somehow days later I remembered. This was after 3, if not 4 days of NJ summer heat. I go and open the trunk and it stinks like death. The thing is, about a third of the crabs were alive! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had no idea they could live that long and endure temps like that with no water. I had to dump the entire bushel in the river and I felt bad. Young and dumb. Now I’m just older and still dumb
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Sounds more like a three day bender. Look at the bright side, those dumped crabs weren’t wasted, they fed other crabs.
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