Cast nets, Crab traps, and clamming!

H

Hotrod

Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
978
Hey guys...

Those of you in a coastal setting... how many of you have expieremented with cast netting for dinner? The nets are relatively cheap... I havent ever thrown one though!

How about crab traps... I've nearly run over them in boats, but I havent ever set one. What kind of bait works? How often do you have to check the trap?
I've heard that 6 to 8 crabs will feed a man a large meal... just drop em in a pot of boiling water!

I like clams... and I've heard that all you need is a rake and a bucket to get em! _ The indians down on the coast of NC used to have huge piles of oyster shells , trying to make bridges to other islands. That must say something for their usefulness in coastal living. My only question... if clams are in the mud banks... and oysters are 8 feet down in the water, how do you get to em without a big boat?

I've done some sport fishing, but not all that much... can you hand line something large enough to eat? My expeirence is mainly surf fishing... blue fish and the like... but what if you dont have a rod and reel? What about replacements for monofiliment?

Lots of questions... but it seams like the ocean is a gold mine for food in survival type situations. (As long as your not floating in it... :D )

Thanks guys... If anyone else wants to add to this... I'm here for the learning :) Run with it if you wish :cool:
 
Right up my alley! Cast nets are used around here mostly to catch bait fish. Sometimes you may get lucky and catch something edible. Crab traps are great but you can't over trap an area you have to move them around alot. The way you use them is to bait them with chicken necks or other parts. We have oyster schoals around here so they're accessable.
 
I've heard that if you get a large cast net... and add a good bit (I think I read 4 lbs...) that you can catch some slightly larger stuff. The net drops faster then they can swim out...

I'll try and find the page again :D

Thanks :cool:
 
Not that you are going to just happen to have a chicken neck in your pocket in a survival situation but you can simply tie a chicken neck to a string and throw it out where there are crabs and they will hang on to it and allow you to even pull them up out of the water into a bucket. Some let go but you can still get a pot full of blue crabs that way! (There are also inexpensive net traps that use two wire hoops and twine netting to form a simple basket when lifted. These are available in most coastal tackle shops.)
 
Jason Burns said:
Not that you are going to just happen to have a chicken neck in your pocket in a survival situation but you can simply tie a chicken neck to a string and throw it out where there are crabs and they will hang on to it and allow you to even pull them up out of the water into a bucket. Some let go but you can still get a pot full of blue crabs that way! (There are also inexpensive net traps that use two wire hoops and twine netting to form a simple basket when lifted. These are available in most coastal tackle shops.)
Click to expand...

That's the beauty of crabs they will eat anything! Just used chicken necks as an example. Hotrod, you have to grab them from behind where their back flippers are.
 
Hotrod,

The book you want to read is Stalking the Blue-eyed Scallop, by Euell Gibbons. It's all there. And it's amazing how few people who live within shouting distance of the coast know anything about any of it. Read, forage, eat and be merry.

Mike
 
Hotrod said:
I like clams... and I've heard that all you need is a rake and a bucket to get em! _ The indians down on the coast of NC used to have huge piles of oyster shells , trying to make bridges to other islands. That must say something for their usefulness in coastal living. My only question... if clams are in the mud banks... and oysters are 8 feet down in the water, how do you get to em without a big boat?
Click to expand...

well, here in Maine, on the coast, all you need for clamming is a bucket and low tide, haha... there are even festivals in Southern Maine where clamming is an event...

but if you want to go find the bigger clam cashes, all you need is a snorkel, a bucket, and something to dig with (but certainly not necessary, you probly wont be in water deeper than your knees, but some ppl pull themselves thru shallow water and dig and call it free-diving) @ least here... i'm not sure of their specific habitat farther down the coast...

http://www.aroundmaine.com/PIRR/features/clam/
 
As teenagers we'd drift the grass flats of the Great South Bay well after dark.
A Coleman lamp was suspended out over the side of the boat. It would light up the shallow water and the crabs were easily seen.
Scooping them up in a long 8' -10' handled net wasn't as easy.
Then you flipped them into the bushel basket, before they could grab the net.
Once we filled the basket, the crabs made a 'crab ladder' and escaped.
Crabs all over the bottom of the boat and us barefoot :eek:
My cousin sat on the outboard and I stood on the seat, bowline in hand, for the 1/2 hour ride home :rolleyes:
 
I checked at borders for the book, But I could not find it in the outdoors section.

I'll look around online I guess! (I just hate buying books unread!) :D
 
I don;t know if this is usefull or new to the post , but i live Nova scotia.

when ever mussel hunting they can be found in the mud and sand at low tide, just look for their little holes, often water spurting out abit when you get to close. Find a hole, find a mussel. Within a half hour you can have about a pound of them ready to go, boil and get to it.
Just don't let the tide come in before schedual ;)
 
I gave up on crab traps in Barnegat Bay. I use fish heads on a line, a net and a case of beer.

Tie fish head to line and drop overboard. Drink a beer. Pull up fish head with blue crab attached and scoop up with net. Repeat as necessary.
 
Or take a wire hanger, use more fish heads & 2 or more nets.
But that's only if your in a hurry...like running out of beer!
:D
 
Everyone, and I mean everyone out here on Puget sound uses catfood for crab bait.

Salmon run starts next week.
 
Like I said crab's eat anything! I've seen some people get an old shopping cart tie nylons in the basket with whatever in them and put out in the water. They go out a little later and flip the basket and get some crabs.
 
K2QB3 said:
Everyone, and I mean everyone out here on Puget sound uses catfood for crab bait.

Salmon run starts next week.
Click to expand...


Lots of folks on Long Island use chicken pieces with good results.
They stay in the trap and on the wire very well in the cold water.
:D
 
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