What do you do with crabs

I'm coming down in about a month to do some fishin'. In the past I've always caught some of those crabs. I tried eating them. They were good but a lot of work and hardly any meat. What am I doing wrong? I tent camp and do all my cooking on a gas stove, using mostly a wok and a covered sauce pan. And I want to make one more comment. Those crabs let go of the bait when they see day light, but when you catch them at night they hang on all the way up to the dock. Ain't that weird?
Thanks. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by sknhgy

They were good but a lot of work and hardly any meat. What am I doing wrong?

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You are not necessarily doing anything wrong, that's just the way it is with crabs. They are easy to catch, but hell to process.

There are videos online that show the fastest way to pick them. In general, it works best to break the body in half and then split the chambers by pulling from the joints where the legs attached towards the broken middle, but it is still a pain in the ***.

Brunson Nets has a thing called a "Fast Claw" that will help get to the claw meat a little better, but it is still work. You can also use the Fast Claw on the body to make a tiny snip between the legs joints to make pulling the body apart easier.

Best thing to do is to get a bunch of crabs and some friends and then make the picking something of a social occasion lubricated with beer and conversation.

I place blue crabs in the same category as crawfish: Fun food, you eat them more for the experience & taste vs. for the nutrition derived compared to the effort required.

Basically you either steam or boil them, with a good dose of Old Bay or some other crab boil spices and then dig in.

Try this

https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/crabs-treatment

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Originally Posted by hba

Try this

https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/crabs-treatment

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There once was this girl from Luray, MO.....................:o

Don't you have to buy a license to catch Blue Crabs?

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Originally Posted by Robert(Tato)Piteo

Don't you have to buy a license to catch Blue Crabs?

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I thought you could catch them under a saltwater sport-fishing license.
Guess I'll give them another try.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/sites/...creational.pdf

I love crabs more than any other seafood. But, you're going to pay one way or another to get enough meat. I spend my free mornings in the summer watching the Tour de France and picking crabs. I separate claw meat for crab claws and crab loafs and use the jumbo lump and lump for west Indies salad and crab cakes.

On Sunday nights, we usually boil up a dozen or so along with some corn, potatoes, and onions. It is a super cheap, delicious meal. I have a few traps that I'll run using clearance chicken from Greers or fish carcasses. Since moving to Rabbit Creek, I also started handling down by the bridge. The best thing about crabs is that they are always biting once the water is warm. In fact, I'm tempted to try handling tomorrow. I know it's probably too cold, but I've got some nice jumbo shrimp that I'd love to boil with some crabs (even just one would be a treat).

My tip, clean the crabs before you cook. Ice them to stun, then quickly stab them in the face with a nice and break off the carapace. Blast the insides with a garden hose. People say you have to cook the crabs live, but I've done this for years and haven't died.

https://i.imgur.com/RN0kh56.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BEaqY5L.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4yogbZM.jpg

You can remove the carapace right before cooking, definitely not a problem.

The main caution is against cooking crabs that have been dead in the trap or cooler, they start to degrade pretty quickly.

BTW, yes you need a recreational fishing license to catch crabs. You can set up to 5 traps with a recreational license.

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Originally Posted by CarlF

You can remove the carapace right before cooking, definitely not a problem.

The main caution is against cooking crabs that have been dead in the trap or cooler, they start to degrade pretty quickly.

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You're right, and I think the "cook them live" is a hand down from folks that buy crabs from the market and don't know the history of their catch.

It's somewhat unusual why people insist that you have to boil/steam crabs, crawfish, and lobsters live but shrimp are just fine on ice. I like picking my crabs without the "mustard" and "dead man's fingers". I know, it's blasphemy to Bostonians, but they don't even know what West Indies salad is or that whole crab claws make a nice dish. Thank goodness for Bailey's.