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very interesting about the big berried jenny watta. goes against a lot of other theories but it's proof they still breed.
my favourite crabbing spot is about 200 metres long by about 2 metres wide. miss it and I catch nothing.
I was at Samie's Girl this arvo. They had 2 live muddies in there. One looked small and the other looked green. Not allowed to touch though aparently so couldn't tell how full they were. $50 a kg. Makes me feel good about getting 6 last weekend. Spoilt maybe.
Thanks guys, Food for thought I must say. Don't ya just love these forums!!!!
Sandbankmagnet sounds like you need to guard that area. Is it always productive???
Mudskipper a well put through argument. It is just a shame that a large proportion of the Jennies we got the other night were in fact without at least one claw. Also have to raise the question about how many jennies are taken for the table.
Are mud crabs loyal to eachother???? I thought they kept mating with different partners throughout the season?????
I know years ago people used to camp along the banks of Tinny Creek up toward Horseshoe bend and just cook anything that came into the pot. very hard to prove though unless caught red handed.
Shane
My best results has been with pigs heads. You ask your butcher to get them in for you and cut them into bait-size bits with his band-saw. First tried them on the noosa heaps of muddies. Then tried them at Inskip. Caught both sandy and muddie.
Im new to the web site, and ive been waiting to put in a post. This topic is right up my alley.
Mudskipper: I couldn't agree more with you about the castration process for those taking of jennies or breaking claws. I think the day (if it happens) that jennies regardless of size are taken, it will spell the end of crabbing in queensland as we know it. QLD will end up the same as NSW where catching a crab at all is exciting, let alone a keeper( as i discovered on a recent trip to Brunswick heads)
I crab regularly and have no problems catching a feed if i put in a little effort and learn from my unsuccessfull trips, if people can't catch a crab then it is due to poor pot placement or poor choice of tides and not because there are no crabs around. As you all would know trial and error and developing some local knowledge is the best way to get a feed of the sweet tasting muddies.
new to Australia, new to crabbing.
I have been putting out pots for a few months now but I don't really know what to look out for.
I walk over the mudflats and in between mangroves and look for burrows. I have been placing my pots onto the mangrove shoots because there was no clear ground. However I'm not sure whether the shoots get in the way for the crabs to come in and/or whether they 'help' the crab climb back out the pot. ?????
Also, I hear crabs have good memory. If a pot is placed right outside their burrow, would they recognize that as an 'unfamiliar object' and therefore avoid it???
Any help is much appreciated because I am yet to catch a legal size buck!
Hey there Bloody Grinner,
Land based crabbing is so much harder. What area are you targetting? Crabbing to me depends on a number of factors. Time of year, how much rain or lack thereof, and tidal cycle to name a few. What baits are you using??
Generally though I like to find areas where there is a close by mangrove root system....the thicker the better. I don't generally have much luck with pots in under 1.5m at top of tide. Others may disagree and thats cool!!!! I will also look for areas that naturally drain, e.g. small feeder creeks or at least dips in the bottom. The type of pot also could be an issue. Baits I regularly use are mullet, assorted fish frames and pilchards and as stated above......the good old chicken frames. Do a search through these forums and I am sure you will find an absolute bounty of relevant info.
Also having access to a boat just widens your horizons so much more.
Well there you go, not long ago (through the grape vine) I heard that Qld DPI&F was going to allow the taking of jennies in Qld waters, but it would have been a braisen balled person to make a decision as all persons have been educated from the onset that taking or possessind female crab (muddy in this instance) is prohibited with heft fines.
In NSW the Fisheries have allowed persons to keep jennies as long as they are not berried, why is this so? Research had been undertaken throughout the state on population dynamics, recruitment, etc over a long long time and was indicated there would be an imbalance.
Hence Qld DPIF have decided to breed and market (sell) mudcrabs to the public (via selected sellers) both bucks and jennies but a receipt would need to be kept. The other hurdle to overcome is to distinguish the bred jennie from the wild jennie in case one does get pulled over by fisheries on a suspicion or random vehicle check (this was also featured on landline and another programme about 2 years ago). Interesting proposition.
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