Posted by Warwick HB on 23/9/2007, 10:09 am, in reply to "Re: Crabs"
Crabs...i find certain times of the year they are more prolific -i'm not sure but i think certain times of the year they lose their shell amd in order for the new to grow? In Hawkes Bay i find their are two kinds of fish that keep them quiet - Lemon (rigs) and flounder & sometimes snapper in numbers. All my large snapper were taken when the crabs were stripping the bait. I like to fish mostly at night so crabs for me isn't that much of an issue but in saying that certain wind , conditions make them active at night - but don't be fooled as lice and picker fish are also on the scene. Floating baits help but to purely use floats to combat i don't. What works for me is to out fish the crabs - baiting up every 10 minutes - other things you could try is using different baits and variation of your cast. I try not to get to disheartened with the crabs as they are part of the food chain and even if you find you are finding your bait untouched you should be changing it regulary anyway - crabs save me that job of cleaning the hook and throwing to the gulls. Also if the crabs are busy with your bait they may not notice that 20lb getting closer and closer - with the concentration of the crabs around your bait zone and active - well they make great natural lures!