This should help. I've used the peeled tails before without luck, yesterday I used whole raw prawns rigged as below.
Crabs were there but not in plague proportions, floated pillies were lasting a good 20min so they were not too rampant.


My old Canon 40D which used to be my main camera has spent more time at beaches than most fishing rods I just didn't take it because I didn't really expect to need it...

The body is worth nothing by DSLR standards, its the lenses that cost the money.

Good idea buying a cheap 'doesn't matter' camera, less worry about damage etc.