SaltyGreek Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) You may have seen my report on fishing with live crabs for bream which I have deleted because there was nothing really to report. I fished the old sandstone wall of what would’ve been a boat shed on the Georges river. Had the crabs pinned in the back and just let them float down weightless down the water column. This method worked for me but I want to see how others use crabs. Have you had much success on them or are cranka crabs better? (I’m to scared to snag my one). Should I fish them weighted or keep going weightless Ill definitely be back out to fish the crabs again and hopefully get some bigger fish but between now and then I hope to learn a bit more on how to use them. Edited February 17, 2020 by SaltyGreek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Signing Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Personally i've never had success using crabs but one old timer in particular that i've known since childhood swears by the little black crabs for bream and still uses them to this day. He catches some thumping bream. From what i can tell one of the beauties of using the crabs as opposed to say nippers or worms is that you avoid the pickers. I've tried soldier crabs more times than i care to remember due to how easy they are to come across as a bait source but ive never once caught a fish on them. They do however make excellent burley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Crabs are a great bream bait. In fact its the bait I almost use exclusively for them. All my bream spots are around rocks and oysters though. They work better if you use them in pieces rather than whole as the juices inside them act as a terrific berley. For smaller crabs just cut or break then in half and put 1 or both pieces on your hook, depending on the size. For larger crabs, remove the legs and top shell, break in half, slip your hook through a leg hole and pull the segment off. repeat the process through the other leg holes until you have a decent size bait running up the hook shank. Use the legs for berley. I fish baits like this with the smallest ball sinker I can get away with, running directly onto the hook, or you can use a short leader if you prefer. Edited February 18, 2020 by Green Hornet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Hi SaltyGreek look up "Red Crabs" in the search engine- some crab info for you there 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restyle Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 dont forget oysters! even though they fall of the hook easily i have caught some massive bream on them, cant say i have had much luck on crabs tho 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 39 minutes ago, Restyle said: dont forget oysters! even though they fall of the hook easily i have caught some massive bream on them, cant say i have had much luck on crabs tho Tried oysters, fresh & partially salt cured for not much. Pippies, well that's another story, great bait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 42 minutes ago, Restyle said: dont forget oysters! even though they fall of the hook easily i have caught some massive bream on them, cant say i have had much luck on crabs tho When I was a kid and we ran out of bait fishing the harbour, we used to grab a few oysters and boil them in a tin of saltwater, they go a bit "rubbery" and stay on a bit better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restyle Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said: When I was a kid and we ran out of bait fishing the harbour, we used to grab a few oysters and boil them in a tin of saltwater, they go a bit "rubbery" and stay on a bit better. ohhh i like that tip! keep that in mind next time i use them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Restyle said: ohhh i like that tip! keep that in mind next time i use them Hi Restyle I don't eat them, but when they're cooked "Kilpatrick" they go the same way you can also mould a bit of fresh bread around them Edited February 18, 2020 by wazatherfisherman added info 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 caught plenty of bream on crabs as a kid certainly good for avoiding pickers, catch plenty of bream on cranka crabs floating them down structure, they're actually pretty snag resistant with the floating claws 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I heard that some people used to superglue their hook to the back of a crab to keep it alive Not sure if this is true or an urban legend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 54 minutes ago, antonywardle said: I heard that some people used to superglue their hook to the back of a crab to keep it alive Not sure if this is true or an urban legend I remember my brother trying rubber bands when groper fishing. The crabs just ran into a crevice, snagging him up every time haha. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthman Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Has anyone had success with soldier crabs? That's what I'm interested in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 4 hours ago, anthman said: Has anyone had success with soldier crabs? That's what I'm interested in! Had success on them when fishing "Learner's Corner" at Yamba middle wall, but to be fair, we were catching them on pretty much everything. Just a tiny shot straight on the hook and sunk down the edge of the wall (from a boat)- no bites they just swallowed them. Have often got real small ones out of Whiting, shows they eat them but caught the Whiting on worms, not the crabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 9 hours ago, anthman said: Has anyone had success with soldier crabs? That's what I'm interested in! used them plenty of times, good bream and big whiting bait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Ghost crabs off the beach are great bait for bream. KB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthman Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, dirvin21 said: used them plenty of times, good bream and big whiting bait 13 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said: Had success on them when fishing "Learner's Corner" at Yamba middle wall, but to be fair, we were catching them on pretty much everything. Just a tiny shot straight on the hook and sunk down the edge of the wall (from a boat)- no bites they just swallowed them. Have often got real small ones out of Whiting, shows they eat them but caught the Whiting on worms, not the crabs. Thanks guys, has anyone tried bringing them for use on a boat in deeper water for bigger fish? (Snapper?) Edited February 19, 2020 by anthman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Signing Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 2 hours ago, Koalaboi said: Ghost crabs off the beach are great bait for bream. KB At certain times of the year we have found flathead feeding straight in behind the breakers on the beach. Can be a little bit sketchy drifting in there with a boat but everytime we have found them like this they have been full of the ghost crabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Signing Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 24 minutes ago, anthman said: Thanks guys, has anyone tried bringing them for use on a boat in deeper water for bigger fish? (Snapper?) I haven't but you have certainly just given me an idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthman Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Is there any pattern around when soldier crabs appear? I.e. right at low tide or within 30min before? I haven't locked down a pattern yet...sometimes I see them, sometimes i see the little balls of worked up sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyGreek Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 6 hours ago, anthman said: Is there any pattern around when soldier crabs appear? I.e. right at low tide or within 30min before? I haven't locked down a pattern yet...sometimes I see them, sometimes i see the little balls of worked up sand. I sometimes catch soldier crabs in my nipper pump but I’ve only ever seen them out in the sand maybe once or twice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campr Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 I've caught heaps of big bream on small black crabs fished with a small ball sinker and metre long trace. Soldier crabs are easily caught at low tide at night on sand flats where present when they feed in huge aggregations just back from the waters edge. Putting a few of the tiny pea sized ones on a hook can at times be deadly for big whiting. Ron 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61 crusher Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Caught some XL whiting & bream at the creek at the back of crescent head years ago while camping there in the 80’s Just be aware people around Sydney there is a lot of intertidal sanctuary zones where 🦀 crabs can’t be gathered or used, could become an expensive fishing session 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyGreek Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 4 hours ago, 61 crusher said: Caught some XL whiting & bream at the creek at the back of crescent head years ago while camping there in the 80’s Just be aware people around Sydney there is a lot of intertidal sanctuary zones where 🦀 crabs can’t be gathered or used, could become an expensive fishing session I’ll make sure my areas allow taking crabs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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