Holly Monroe (UR) Baiting the Trap!

As you can see from my previous blog posts I have fished a good amount in the past, but I have never gone crabbing. I began researching to learn the basics and I found one article in particular "Crabbing for Beginners: How to Use a Crab Trap" by the website Brave Hunters (1). This article explains that a crab trap is a mesh cage designed to catch adult crabs with a labeled diagram, as shown below.

Labeled Crab Trap

Scientific terms to know:

• Cull ring: Allows under legal sized crabs to escape the trap. These rings also minimize potential injury to the under sized crabs (2).
• Escape panel: A degradable panel that is roughly the size of the traps entry. This panel is important for allowing crabs to escape incase the trap gets lost (3).
• Terrapin excluder: A 2 by 6inch. rectangle or diamond shape opening fastened to the funnel entrance. The importance of this is to allow other marine animals to escape the crab traps (4).
• Terrapin: (Malaclemys terrapin)A species of turtle that likes to feed on the bait located within the crab trap. Without the terrapin excluder in place these turtles would drown in the crab traps (5). 
• Bait Pot: Area to place bait.
• Pot: Another name for crab trap.
  

  

  Terrapin Excluder

  

  Malaclemys terrapin

  
  

This site also explained how to use a crab trap, such as baiting the trap, attaching a buoy, location, and observation.

1. Baiting the Trap: Secure the bait to the bottom of the crab trap in case of strong currents. For box traps specifically attach smaller pieces of bait to the sides of the trap.
2. Attaching a Buoy: Orange, green and red colored buoy is prefered so that it easily seen in the water. The line attached to the buoy and the crab trap should be weighted down so that the line does not float.
3. Location: Place the trap in a desired location. This site suggests placing the trap in a low tide area.
4. Observations: Check the trap every 20-30 minutes to make sure crabs are present.

Additionally the sight suggests different types of baits to use. For blue crabs specifically chicken and clams. Also, in general fish, which should be cut into half or one thirds. This allows the smell to travel the water easier. The suggested fish types listed included: Cod, Salmon, and Mackerel.

Prepared Fish Bait

Sources:
Crabbing for Beginners: How to Use a Crab Trap. Retrieved from 
https://bravehunters.com/how-to-use-a-crab-trap/ 

Location, Location, Location: The Importance of Cull Ring Placement in Blue Crab Traps. Retrieved from
https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1577/T08-168.1


How To Catch Your Own Stone Crab. Retrieved from
http://www.stonecrabflorida.com/how-to-catch-your-own-stone-crab.html

Diamondback Terrain Malaclemys terrapin. Retrieved from
https://aqua.org/Experience/Animal-Index/diamondback-terrapin

(1998).Change in Commercial Style Crab Pot Regulations. Retrieved from
https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/news/crabregs.htm

Excluder Devies on Crab Traps. Retrieved from
https://wetlandsinstitute.org/conservation/terrapin-conservation/excluder-devices-on-commercial-crab-traps/

Terrapin Picture:https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=GYESHymW&id=989AD5C3BDB2908D96AA7F45CF2BE225EE8D79C7&thid=OIP.GYESHymWKPdqUn-8Z8mBOQHaE8&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fupload.wikimedia.org%2fwikipedia%2fcommons%2fthumb%2fa%2faf%2fDiamond_terrapin_turtle_reptile_malaclemys_terrapin.jpg%2f1200px-Diamond_terrapin_turtle_reptile_malaclemys_terrapin.jpg&exph=800&expw=1200&q=terrapin&simid=608022520849368893&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0