mudcrab catch problem........

[alcam2001]

Over the past week or two I have been putting pots out halfway up the tidal reaches of a river off Moreton Bay - and getting lots of mudcrabs that are just undersize eg 13 to 14 cm's. About equal male/female. But NONE of legal size.

This is surprising - because out of so many crabs, you would expect a few keepers.

There are no other crabpots on this or the next reach of the river so unlikely to be a problem of the big ones already taken. Also, doesn't seem to matter how far out into the channel the pots go, nor how far into the mangroves. Just after start of outgoing tide run seems to get the best numbers - but just not big enough.

One pot did get a pair of huge eels (about 60cm each - nearly filled up a round crab pot - must have liked the chicken carcass!) and earlier, an esturary cod (40cm).

Is this likely to be caused by pollution (preventing the crabs growing up enough) overfishing, illegal taking, wrong bait, wrong position, bad technique(!!!) or just bad luck ?

[TheRealAndy]

Try it in a couple of weeks again and see how you go. If they are still undersize then its probably crab thats on the move to a new home.

[Horse]

I have found Muddies seem to move in different areas as groups. An area that holds mainly Jennies for a month or so can then start producing a great run of bucks. Undersize seem to go everywhere

[Dirtysanchez]

A bloke I know lives on a canal on the gold coast. He says he gets a lot of those eels in his pots off his back wharf, and he reckons (?) that the eels eat the crabs sometimes.
Could it be this ?

[dfox]

There are no other crabpots on this or the next reach of the river so unlikely to be a problem of the big ones already taken.

Because you cant see any other pots that doesnt mean that there is none there. Many maybe sunk with no floats. I'd venture to guess that for every visiable pot there are dozens (illegally) sunk. Unfortunately this is the norm these days due to crab pot theft. If the area hasnt been hit reasonably well i'd expect that you would have jagged a few keepers by now. Think outside the square and put a few pots in what may seem stupid spots. Crabs grow fast and only have a short lifespan, so those 14cm ones will be legal soon , best of luck ... foxy

[Benny01]

is it illegal to sink pots???? i normally use 4 tied together between like 10m of rope. i was told its ok because the pots are anchored to each other

[FNQCairns]

Agree with those above I used to have a muddie spot that I would throw pots from shore 70 times a year over 6 years, found that differing times meant differing results, no rhyme nor rhythm to any poor result that I could put my finger on, just wait them out they are like schooling fish on reefs the only trend worth speaking of is one over 15 years minimum, everything in between will be shown to be nothing more than natural variation/behaviour...now if they didn't have fins or legs it would make second guessing much easier.

cheers fnq

[dreemon]

As far as i know, the pot has to be tied to an object, and a crab pot is an object, I use the gps and mark the pots, then drift back over between the gps marks with a reef pic to pick them back up, but can make you pull your hair out in the begining until ya get used to it , but you will allways get your pots back

[alcam2001]

sadly, on the middle reaches of SE qld rivers, dragging a reef pick is more than likely to drag up, or get stuck on, anything from blocks of concrete with rebar/mesh sticking out, to carbodies, bicycles, shopping trolleys, etc.

[dreemon]

shopping trollies and all the other crap can be found in the strangest places for sure !! , reef picks are bendy, my sarca anchor picked up an old 30-40 hp outboard, where as the pick would have let go of it, thats why I use the reef pick.

[Skusto]

if its a smaller creek mate we have always found that we only crab the big tides as thats when the bigger crabs seam to move from far in the mangroves to into the creek.

[TheRealAndy]

The other thing worth noting is that from the research I have read is that muddies dont sporn in the bay. No one seems to know where they sporn but the 2 common theories that I have heard is that the sporn further north or on the shelf. So maybe you have hooked up on some crab moving back into feeding grounds. Follow the line back to the creeks maybe?

As dfox said, muddies grow quick. A week can make a huge difference, the undersized crab you throw back might be the legal one next week.

[sandbankmagnet]

They don't grow out of their shell and into a new one in a week. Legal muddies are about 3 years old and they can re-shell about 4 times over one summer.

[Pridey]

Mate I'd have to agree with Foxy and Fnq. Just ride it out. If you've caught keepers there before, it will eventually happen again. Try changing your habbits again, but dont forget whats worked in the past. Im over trying to work out great patterns for fish or crabs. If it a well known pattern then its probably got some substance, eg, because 100 years of experinced fisherman say so. If its something you've never heard of and its someones "hot tip" its probably a coincidence for that bloke.

[TheRealAndy]

They don't grow out of their shell and into a new one in a week. Legal muddies are about 3 years old and they can re-shell about 4 times over one summer.

A week is not far off it. I have some research papers here but I am buggered if I can find them. Stay tuned I will have a good search after my NQ trip.