seasponge Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) OK, so it's only one mud crab, but it's my first one and I'm stoked so I've gotta share it with people!! I've been getting some blue swimmers out the hawkesbury lately using witches hat traps. I got a mud crab trap for christmas and have been itching to give it a go. I got home from work last night just after low tide, and thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to set the trap overnight and retrieve it at the next low tide this morning before work. I found what I thought would be a nice spot, in amongst the mud and mangroves. Set it just above the water line (it was low tide). The wife and I then took the boat out for a nice dusk trip, without the shackles of any fishing gear! It was a welcome change for both of us to not be worrying about tides, wind, tangles, landing fish, losing fish, cleaning fish. Just the misses, some wine and cheese, and a nice sunset. Woke up this morning at 5:30 and went down to check the trap. Got there and found a nice big fat muddie inside. Great!!! Now what the @#$% do I do with it? I've got no probs with the blue swimmers, but you're first muddie is a different story. After some time, and a lot of reservation, I managed to get him into an esky. I was all keen to have a go tying him up, but he'd thrown his back swimming legs, which put me back a bit. In the end I tipped a heap of ice onto him to calm him down enough to then be able to tie him up. He came in at 1.4kg and he's now sitting calmly, all strung up, in the esky in my laundry, waiting to be tonights dinner. Again, not the most significant catch on this forum, but today, I'm a happy man Update: Here he is wearing a hat Edited January 7, 2015 by seasponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skirulz Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Good Catch mate. Wish we were as blessed as the guys in Brissy where they leave the trap over night and next morning its packed with crabs............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james3210 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 That is a nice feed mate. Im drooling now...well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy ! Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Nice muddy, I bet those chillis are going into the dish as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbdshroom Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Seasponge, that is a beautiful report and a very significant catch on this forum. It's not always about what is caught but here you've succeeded in catching your target. You deserve a pat on the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stimo1076 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well done mate, always good to have a goal and achieve it. Good job and enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Great effort mate congrats on your first muddy I'm sure hel be great eating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregh1 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Mate! What a catch!! It's not every day you catch a beauty like this one!! Enjoy your meal!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plankton Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Monster crab! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 That's a beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating_Medic Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 1.4kg for a first muddie dude thats awesome!! We used to get big muddies while on Exercise in Shoalwater Bay setting some stinky road kill roo in the traps in estuaries and creeks that no-one has access to fish and man we used to get some big ones up there hey! We set one trap out and when we came back later on there was a crab on it too big to get into the net so was sitting on the top eating the roo through the net! I told my mate to snatch the trap quickly to tangle it up but went the slow approach and the monster crab just climbed off and strolled into the water! If only we could have got that thing to our feet I reckon it would have been some sort of record crab for sure!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynabolt Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 That's a really good catch! They can get quite angry, so you've done well by chilling it. I have used BBQ tongs to handle them in the past... Reminds me of a time when a friends father wanted to see how big a muddie really was and tipped one out of the bucket onto the kitchen floor.... and it hadn't been tied up..... Let's just say that it was pretty angry, very agile and took a long time to re-capture! (Plus there was a fair amount of screaming from the humans) My suggestion is to put it in the freezer for a half hour before you next want to handle it. Will keep it slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belligero Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Nice ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Thanks for the comments all. Definately for next time, chucking the angry fella straight into an esky, dump ice on him, wait for him to doze off, then tying him up is the way to go. Been checking some chili crab recipes to use tonight. It'll be my first time eating a muddie let alone catching one! It's just me and my wife at home, and she doesn't eat crab, so trying to decide whether to cook it all and gorge myself on it, or to keep half of it for another time. Seem to find very conflicting ideas on the internet about whether they can be frozen for later use, and if so whether to freeze them green, par cooked, or fully cooked. Might have to just play it safe and cook the whole thing up for tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paikea Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 A top post with great pics, well done. Cheers Paikea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have found that the crab is at its best when you cook iit, cool it and then eat it. Frozen crabs do lose some of their flavor. Like most things fresh is best, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 I got home last night to one very p$!#%ed off crab in my laundry. A couple of ice bricks soothed the savage beast, then into the freezer for a bit before being dispatched efficiently. He ended up as a very nice Singapore Chilli Mud Crab. I hope I did him justice! Found plenty of recipes on the net, but I ended up using Ryder's recipe from here http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=73423&hl=%2Bmud+%2Bcrab just to keep it all in-house (and I included Panger's suggestions, only served on a bed of rice rather than bread). I ended up cooking the lot for myself, and it was very delicious!! I've learnt how to catch them, tie them, kill them and cook them. Now just gotta learn how to eat them! Very messy, and I'm sure there's a much more efficient way of getting the meat out of every crevice than what I was doing! Definately crack the shell as much as you can while he's green, before he goes into the wok. Thanks for all the comments guys, it's been great to share. I won't be giving my flathead frames to the pelicans anymore! Oh, and here's a quick pic of him with a hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 ahhh you sure did it justice seasponge great post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynabolt Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Restaurant quality dish there. Fanstastic job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Great work mate. Glad you enjoyed the recipe. You will need to buy a set of crab tools to eat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Now where are my crab pots? I know number 1 son has borrowed them and has not returned them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Great work mate. Glad you enjoyed the recipe. You will need to buy a set of crab tools to eat them.image.jpg Yep I was gonna say the same thing, they are also good for blue swimmers. Love the hat pic, I'm surprised you didn't become too well bonded with your friend and not wanna kill him... But then I bet you had no regrets while chowing down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Man that crab must be sick of smiling for photos Congrats and I hope you are still licking your fingers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Man that crab must be sick of smiling for photos Congrats and I hope you are still licking your fingers! He ain't smiling anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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