Gold Coast mud crabs

[Braddles]

I have been fortunate enough to have days off coinciding with a mate mid week and decided to go crabbing.

Dropped 8 pots around paradise point - fished for two hours and checked pots - already 1 keeper buck and loads of undersized and jennies.

Emptied out, and dropped again - this time leaving for the night.

Back at 7am - a guy in a tiller steer unpainted approx 15ft new looking hull with new looking 70hp Johnson was meters from our pots when we rounded the bend and he took off.. I was so disappointed that 1 of our $50 pots were gone (? In his boat). Why couldn't he take one of the cheapies grrrrr!! I couldn't prove anything - and he was long gone - but very very suss. He didn't even wave when we waved - just stared at us and took off..

Anyway - we got 9 keeper bucks, through back loads just under size and heaps of jennies. With the one the day before we had 10 crabs!!

They were turned into Singapore chillie mud crab and black pepper mud crab - sensational!!!!

pics attached (hopefully).

[metal magician]

what a mongrel had that happen to me at the pin very annoying

[bermo82]

Great work mate, the next couple days look really good for putting the pots out.

Those meals are making me hungry!

Cheers
Bermo

[Braddles]

Went again today (dropped pots last night, pick up this morning first thing) - only to have had our pots tampered with or stolen!

TBH I'm not sure I'll bother again - some filthy scum repeatedly stealing of people's hard work and good fortune.

our first run of pots closest to ramp were all over the shop (not a neat line) and our gps dots were off - these were our cheap BCF pots... 4 for $60 with rusty rings type jobs - pulled them up - no crabs, no bait, zip tie sealing pot gone! Every one!!

fuming - we proceeded to next spot....

no pots, anywhere. These were the $60ea pro crab pots. ($50 pots, floats, clips, new rope I'd just bought and fitted Grrrr)...

i am so angry that some people think this is ok - and probably watched us leave...

Anyway we we did have two pots difficult to spot and scored 5 keeper bucks from just 2 pots. 1 went 2.6kg!!! All very full.

I have to acknowledge how wonderful fisheries were when I reported this. I have photographed the boat I believe may be involved - we seen him checking various styles of pots - so may have caught him.. Fisheries are following up!!

fisheries are are also increasing patrols, random pot pulls, equipment and catch checks too and some other tricks in their bag which I probably shouldn't mention here - suffice to say - you never know what technology the crab in someone else's pot is carrying :-)

im also buying a go pro or similar to mount in bushes to keep watch over my pots if I can't stay with them :-)

Watch your pots guys - $250 worth of pots and my time to replace these really sours an otherwise awesome catch.

Regards,

Brad

[Braddles]

Pics from today.

[Swanie1975]

Last sat middayish I mate and I put out 8 pots starting from the first corner out of paradise point and around up to couran cove, went to tipplers for a quiet couple and checked on the way back. 2hr soak I guess and had crabs in all pots but mainly Jenny's and half dozen just undersize bucks (1-2mm under but still too small) with only 1 real big full keeper which I gave to a mate recovering from an operation thinking I would strike gold in the morning.

left overnight and checked again early sun morning only to find the first 6 pots had been opened (zip ties cut) and they hadn't even bothered to close the pots. Last two pots had the biggest blue blubber jelly and a dirty slimey eel so not exactly happy when I got back to the ramp.

I guess you have to sit and watch the pots now, kinda sad the state it's come too around that area. Didn't see any boats interfering tho. Might have to start a crab watch roster lol!

cheers Ryan

[Braddles]

We need a neighborhood watch for our pots! :-)

if we can get a night shot fish eye lense with 12hr record capacity it would be awesome. looking at a few now... .

my next days off we might wait in ambush too...

If we do catch them - we won't have to buy crab bait for a long time!

[Swanie1975]

Yes it would be nice to have the time to catch the buggars but with the young family I've got and my 2 day old new boy I'm gonna be lucky to put the boat in the water lol!

meant to say I always wanted to try that Singapore chilli crab recipe and your pics of it are mouthwatering - good job well done.

cheers Ryan

[Scalem]

Braddles I feel devastated for you, I lost one pot but I think due to a big tidal run.... Only 1 pot and it hurt, so I can only imagine how you must feel. That's why I changed to sand crabs ( as much as I miss the bulk of a big muddie), you can mark your GPS spot out in the middle of the bay and it's less likely some scum bag decides to share with you. Nice work on the chilli crab , is that corriander? Same ingredients as I used recently, even the chilli. But you would have more hair on your chest than me putting in chilli with the seeds, too hot for me, just the right amount of bite if I take the seeds out. Next time you want more chilli, grab some off my bush for free, I've got more than I can give away at the moment. 5 mins detour off the M1.

Being local I would love to see a photo of the suspected boat so I can store that image in my memory....

Scalem

[jmwarner]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j2C7149xGA

Always wanted to try this, or i wonder if there's a way to put a GPS tracker in the float to see if you can catch them red handed. Maybe use a hole saw and seal with white silicone but not sure if the signal would still work

[kingcray]

gee they look good. 2.6kg is a monster. Hopefully I can get a few over the weekend

[Braddles]

Thanks guys for your kind words - much appreciated.

Fisheries will do their best - but they have a massive area to patrol, with limited resources and although I am assured they will concentrate on the area I was in in the immediate future - these guys are cunning, and the problem is wide spread over the Broadwater and up to and including Moreton bay.

Last week - we left our pots late in the afternoon and came back first thing in the morning - and we had been targeted.

Yesterday - we were again back first thing in the morning - so we were being watched - or they come in, during the cover of darkness and rape and pillage other's property.
Last week was the shiny (near new) unpainted tinny with either tiller steer or rear side console, with a new yammy 4 stroke engine idling around near our pots as we rounded the last bend... When he seen us he sped over the other side of the river, then when we were near our pots - he took off. We waved - he didn't... just sped off... and its 6 knots through there. Very sus!

The guy yesterday we watched from a distance go from float to float pulling up pots about 1km from where ours were set - as we got closer - we could see some were dark coloured mesh, the last one had bright red mesh - plausible to have various pots yes - but weird... and he was one up, and checked many pots - so illegal in any case! We went passed him and went out of sight around a bend, we then turned around and came back at him, and as we rounded the bend - he was back to pulling pots! I photographed his boat (which Fisheries have) and went over and came along side... He had NO fishing gear visible (hoping to see my pots) but did have a large forward locker and a massive seat which I suspect was like a 150L - 200L padded esky... which I didn't see in obviously.. He was friendly and said he had also had his pots emptied that morning - but then after leaving him - we thought what better way if you were a crook being caught - then to be calm and nice as pie and play a victim too....

Bermo: Yes full moon always works favourably for me too with mud crabs. You should try the Singapore Chilli Crab - Amazing!

Ryan (Swanie 1975) - Sorry to hear you have been affected too mate. We met a dear old man (82!!) who was launching his old dingy (Alone!) with a little parsun's outboard at the ramp - he goes crabbing around there at least weekly - he too told us his pots have been checked and stolen of late. I felt more sad for him than ourselves - as pensioner - its making it unaffordable for him to buy bait daily for no crabs and having to replace pots all the time.. Its so great to see a fisherman of that age with a level of independence to take his boat out and enjoy our great hobby - and to see some mongrel try and take that away from him infuriates me!

Scalem: Thanks mate for your kind offer of chillies! I love a bit of heat in my cooking :-) We have the birds eye chillies which just self propagate and pack a punch! Yes - that was coriander over the top.. The washed roots went in the curry - and the leaves over the top at the end.. Also some diagonally chopped shallots and chillies, with seeds (good spotting!!).. Scalem - I have the pics - but I cant be certain this is the guy.... the shiny tinny was equally as suspect but my phone / camera were in the car back at the ramp.. I can email you the pic - but I don't want to ruin an investigation or tarnish a guy for a crime he may not have committed. In any case though - he was operating more pots than he was allowed.

J M Warner - The fisheries now have various ticks up their sleeves. A GPS tracker the size of grain of rice can he harmlessly fitted to crabs and left in a pot marked as a recreational fisher - and once poached - tracked! They take it very seriously - I was actually expecting a brush off from fisheries, as I have no firm evidence etc - but they were fabulous, and followed up with several emails seeking clarifications etc and have involved the water police for a joint operation.

Recipes for Singapore Chilli Crab and Singapore Black Pepper Crab were from sbs.com - I can find the links again if anyone interested cant find them.

Kind regards,

Brad.

[Braddles]

King cray - yes - he was an absolute monster! He could fit a coke can in his open claw. He was rusty orange colour underneath and made the other crabs look tiny. It must have been a tight squeeze for him to get in the pot... I boiled them last night - and had our big boiler filled and bubbling with seawater - but only he fitted - I had to cut the ties to fold up his claws to put the lid on hahaha!

His mates had to wait in the ice slurry before going into the "spa" after him!

I need a big crab cooker!!!

[Braddles]

one thing I forgot to mention: PLEASE REPORT IT if you experience theft of crab pots, people taking from your pots, and take photos of any boats you see interfering in pots / suspicious activity (eg checking more than 4 pots if only 1 person on board). Fisheries have been excellent and very proactive in this. Fisheries is 1800 017 116

Information you provide will help the officers with allocation of resources specifically targeting areas with active problems. They really are on our side and I think the only way we can get these scum bags is if we work together as a team :-)

Good luck to the guys who are going out, and thanks again for your kind words - I appreciate it.

[Phydeaux]

I wonder how legal would it be keep my spear fishing gear in the boat ......i swear to God if I ever catch one of these pricks I will put hole in their boat and leave them there to sink