Discussion Board
Hooking sandcrabs
Page
1,
2
Next
 |
 05/13/2005 04:56 PM
|
|
 |
Charlie
Moderator
Surf Fishing Board
Joined: 04/19/2007
Posts: 3147
|
Hooking sandcrabs
edit: pinned Jun 12, 2007
This article was originally posted in early summer 2004. Soon after, the original MomentofFame photo site went kaput. Posted again during the summer of 2006, but the Yourfishpicsture site also went down. Here it is again in edited form with pics uploaded to the Allcoast site:
Finding the sandcrabs are pretty easy in the warmth of the summer. You can see them in their beds from a distance down the beach as rough areas in the sand just above the water line. Wintertime is tougher to find them as they either go deeper in the sand or deeper down the water. In any case, they usually are real tough to find in winter.
Load up with enough for a couple days fishing (50 sandcrabs is your legal limit). You can store them overnight in a tupperware container with no water. A layer of shreddedd newspaper should be placed on top of the sandcrabs. Set a ziplock bag full of ice atop the container of sandcrabs to keep them cool. Condensed water will drip down on the layer of paper to keep the crabs cool. Placing the tupperware containers and ice bag in a cooler will keep them for another day longer.
Hooking sandcrabs (2004)
Quite a few people have been asking how to hook their sandcrabs so I took my lunch break to take some pics. The hook used in the pics is red because you can see it better. I use black hooks when actually fishing. The red paint on red hooks flake off exposing the flash of a bronze hook which I feel puts the corbs off. No bueno. If your target is perch or croaker, the flash does not bother them or stop their bite.
edit: For dime size sc's, I use #8 or #10 Owner mosquito hooks. The nickel and quarter size sc's will require #6 or #4 hooks. Use the lightest leader you can. I will start with 6# fluorocarbon and drop down to 4# fc when the corbs get finicky. Leader length is ideally 28 to 30 inches. The sinker can be 1/4 or, better yet, 1/8 oz.
I used this method for much of of last year and caught quite a few beenies this way. However, I missed a lot of hookups and started experimenting with new ways of hooking the crabs. I started leaving the hook exposed just a bit (1/8" ) and found some success but still missed a lot of hookups. It seems to hook better if you let the fish run till the line gets tight before you set the hook.
19.jpg
_
_
I started hooking this way during the BS perch spawn last March. It worked surprisingly well for the big spawning perch Got a couple of corbs this way but not enough to stay with it.
20.jpg
_
_
This one's a little tricky to do but I got a couple of corbs in May using this method. This advantage on this one is that the the hook point is hidden in the roe area and the hook is flush with the back of the crab. The fish shouldn't feel the hook at all. When the corb crushes the bait, the hook is in it's mouth and the fish is on. The line comes straight out the tail and the bait looks natural in its presentation and movement.
22.jpg
_
_
This way seems to work well with smaller crabs. Not a lot of finesse in this method but it seems to have a good hookup percentage when the fish want the smaller baits.
24.jpg
_
_
This one is what I use mostly nowadays. I haven't come across a better producer so until I do, this is the one I'm using. I use a #8 or #6 hook here, depending on the size of the crab. The exposed hook will set into the fish's mouth on the first bite whether the bite is aggressive or tentative.
21.jpg
_
_
Anyone else have their favorite ways of hooking their baits? Post your methods here. Pics will work better than a word description.
For softshells, I use 24.jpg and the biggest hook... mainly so the crab doesn't fly off when I lob it.
Edit: A personal note here. I like to release the corbina. Sure, you can eat them but I've come to respect them after watching a few put up a spectacular rooster tail and after being bested by a few of these torpedos. So I'll take a pic, I'll take the time to revive them and I'll send them on their way with a phrase of thanks. I'll post a report and identify them with a respectful moniker, such as corbina, corb for short...but never a "bean"... They deserve more than that.
Jeff (aka "Charlie")
He i'a no ka papa'u, He loa'a wale i ka hopu lima (Fish of the shallows are easy to catch with the hands)- Mary Kawena Pukui, "Hawaiian Proverbs"
This post edited by Charlie 03:25 PM 06/26/2007
|
 |
 |
|
|
05/14/2005 05:26 AM
|
|
|
BC
Joined: 05/21/2003
Posts: 49
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
Jeff,
Thanks for sharing your info. on different ways to hook a sand crab.
Very helpful.
Thanks,
BC
|
|
|
|
|
05/14/2005 05:47 AM
|
|
|
islandboy
Joined: 06/20/2004
Posts: 650
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
Thanks again Jeff. I'm sure no animals were harmed or mamed for this photo shot re-enactment.
You bring a lot of knowledge to this board and even better yet you share it!!
Domo Arigato..Gozaimasu.
|
|
|
|
|
05/14/2005 07:30 AM
|
|
|
tinfoil2
Joined: 12/31/1999
Posts: 926
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
I use a little different method of hooking sand crabs.
I use the #6 Super Mutu circle hook, and bring the point of the hook up from the bottom of the crabs shell just to the side and back down on the other side so that the point of the hook is near the roe. I have been using this method for several years now with good results.
Ed
|
|
|
|
|
05/14/2005 01:51 PM
|
|
|
jscrib
Joined: 05/03/2005
Posts: 2646
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
Thanks Jeff. Just anchored it at the top. That time of year so this should answer the sandcrab hooking question.
j
http://www.conscienceskateboarding.com/images/whalecock_moby.jpg
|
|
|
|
|
05/15/2005 08:00 PM
|
|
|
Tunabliss
Joined: 02/23/2004
Posts: 256
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
Thanks Jeff....I was wondering about this just yesterday.
Know, If I could get a lesson on where (how) to find the little bugs? :7
Tight lines....But not too tight!
Tight lines....But not too tight!
|
|
|
|
|
05/21/2005 05:24 AM
|
|
|
CaffeineHigh
Joined: 08/23/2002
Posts: 112
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
I love this thread, nice pictures and detailed explanations..
Just one question on the last picture, i can easily see how the hook can turn either left or right, thus reduce the protrusion of the tip of the hook and in return reduce the hook up chance...?
CaffeineHigh
|
|
|
|
|
05/21/2005 04:59 PM
|
|
|
Charlie
Moderator
Surf Fishing Board
Joined: 04/19/2007
Posts: 3147
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
>Just one question on the last picture, i can easily see how
>the hook can turn either left or right, thus reduce the
>protrusion of the tip of the hook and in return reduce the
>hook up chance...?
Interesting question since this method of hooking is usually the most dependable and most productive. The answer can be found by casting this setup into the clear water of your swimming pool and pulling the crab as it would be pulled in front of your prey in the surf. Notice that the line tension does not allow the crab to flop to the side. It may 'weeble wobble' (sorry, Bill, I couldn't help myself) but always returns to the center as the forces of water keep it straight. Assuming of course that you hooked the crab along it's center line.
Then, let the line go slack. Watch as the lack of tension in the line allows your crab to flop over. When the fish grabs your flopping bait, the hook may very well be ineffective and miss the hookup. That's alright because with all the slack in the line, you won't even notice that you just got a nibble.
Just another reason to keep the slack out of your line when fishing with sand crabs. 
Jeff (aka "Charlie")
He i'a no ka papa'u, He loa'a wale i ka hopu lima (Fish of the shallows are easy to catch with the hands)- Mary Kawena Pukui, "Hawaiian Proverbs"
|
|
|
|
|
05/30/2005 07:08 PM
|
|
|
jgroenhof
Joined: 02/20/2007
Posts: 124
|
RE: Hooking sandcrabs
I always thought I would want to keep the line coming from the front / bottom of the crab to keep the little bugger from scuttling down into the sand. Closest pic is (EDIT; #23 is it) Though I try not to kill the crab.
John G
jgroenhof at cox dot net
John G
|
|
|
|
|
05/30/2005 07:12 PM
|
|
|
jgroenhof
Joined: 02/20/2007
Posts: 124
|
Back to Back sandcrabs?
Has anybody had good luck hooking two smaller crabs back to back. This would leave roe and kicking legs exposed at all times?
I think I read some where that they fight each other trying to right themselves.
Something to ponder in this time of tiny crabs.
John G
jgroenhof at cox dot net
John G
|
|
|
|
|
05/30/2005 08:05 PM
|
|
|
Hithard
Joined: 06/25/2004
Posts: 3933
|
RE: Back to Back sandcrabs?
Jeff you're the man. That is a sweet pictorial. Anyone doubting, he has a lot of knowledge and takes the time to share, that should say it all. I learned something new today and I've been fishing crabs for years now.
Thanks
Mike
Catch'em, let'em go and catch'em again!
Mike on the BygBahd
21' Striper
|
|
|
|
|
06/03/2005 06:16 AM
|
|
|
Dragonfish
Joined: 05/17/2004
Posts: 178
|
RE: Back to Back sandcrabs?
I tried that last hooking method today, but the sand crab would come off the hook when I casted it. Any suggestions as to what the problem might have been?
Cheers,<>< Brian <><"So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems,... And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:21
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
