 It was a special Memorial Day weekend for the Bald Head crew this year. For some time I'd thought about trying my hand at crab fishing in the Bald Head creek using the trusty Whitehall Spirit rowboat and a Chesapeake Bay style crab trap. After securing my Recreational Commercial Gear License (RCGL) and a proper crab pot from my wife I set out this weekend to pay homage to one of my favorite shows, Deadliest Catch.
Catching crab is nothing new for me. When I was younger I used to spend long fall hours sitting on the dock with a piece of leftover fish and a net trying to capture a few of nature's best undersea scavenger. I was lucky enough to catch a bucket full one year and equally lucky enough to have an adult around who knew how to clean the little buggers. In spite of a few of these instances it was somewhat of a hobby and I rarely netted (pardon the pun) enough to warrant a cookout. Over the years I lost the desire to sit around all day and so crabbing fell by the wayside.
Then a few years ago several circumstances would collide which once again made crab fishing a viable hobby. The first was my access to a coastal home and a boat. It seems this is necessary if you want to catch a serious amount of crab. Second was a conversation with my Uncle who enjoys gathering shell from the Pamlico Sound. He really enjoys it and thought that setting crab traps via the vintage reproduction rowboat would be a lot of fun. Third was the fact that my mother-in-law makes the best crab cakes around and would gladly do so if given free fresh crab meat.
So it was settled, some time ago, that I could start crabbing out of the Whitehall Spirit inside the protected yet very crabby waters of Bald Head Island. Back at Easter Marshal and I took the Whitehall out for a scouting mission to look for the local hot spot. Thanks to this little trip I knew exactly where to go and after an hour or so I set my first crab pot of the season.
Since it was a short weekend I decided to let the pot soak with cut menhaden (or sea mullet) for about 24 hours and to pull the pot the next day. I'd heard stories of crab pots going missing but after further research I found that most of those pots had been set in the wrong location or without the proper markings. Still I was a bit anxious about my one and only pot disappearing. I was relieved to see the hot pink buoy the next day as I rounded the bend in the river, but I was even more relieved to see that my first pot caught 9 crabs.
The bait was demolished but I was left with 9 jimmies (male crab). They were all keepers so I finagled them from the pot and into an empty bucket and headed for land. When I arrived back at the house everyone was surprised that I'd caught anything and more surprised with the feistiness of fresh crab. Ladies and gentlemen this is the type of food that'll pinch ya back.
I prepared a crab boil with Old Bay seasoning, sea salt and a bit of apple vinegar and cooked my crab until bright orange. I then popped them into the freezer to help cool them down and after dinner I started to clean them. The first, rather large, one was what the call a "water crab" and contained almost no meat. Apparently this happens when a crab has just shed his old shell and hasn't fully grown and filled out the insides. The remaining crabs were quite juicy and all in all I came home with 191 grams (6.7oz) of meat. Not a tremendous haul but enough to get a few crab cakes.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next time I can set my pot in the same spot but I've thought of a few changes to increase productivity. First is the possible addition of another pot or two. I could safely haul and set probably 3-4 pots from the Spirit but only with one man at the oars. Second I need to either catch a few mullet or use leftover fish or chicken parts to keep the bait cost down. I was amazed with how quickly it goes and the bait cost could easily outweigh the crab value if you have a slow day.
Still it's a fun little hobby and I look forward to taking anyone who will row on the journey with me.
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Blue Crab 
