Ive got crabs!!!!!!!

[Paganwolf]

Went for a walk today got my sloes for my sloe gin, ate some Haws found some shrooms, AND when i crossed the river at the back of my pad i saw a crabs shed carapace :shock: ive got fresh water mitten/hairy crabs in my river! must of come up from the Thames, tomorrow im going to put a trap in and ill tell you how they taste :super:

 

[Squidders]

I'm so... so glad you mean the aquatic type...! :icon_roll

 

[Paganwolf]

Me too, i couldnt believe it :shock: their quite nasty little buggers apparently :yikes:

 

[Squidders]

how big do they get?

 

[Paganwolf]

The shed carapaces i found were about 1 and 1/2 inches across they do get bigger..

 

[Squidders]

See that's pretty cool... I like the UK because you can find crabs that are just big enough to eat but not big enough to seriously damage you... Feel sorry for people in the Pacific region:

http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~srichardson/giant-crab.jpg

Mass
16 to 20 kg
(35.2 to 44 lbs)

The giant spider crab is one of the largest arthropods we know. They have been known to measure 3.7 m from the tip of one outstreached claw to another. Their body usually grows to about 37cm (15in) across(Encyclopedia Britannica Online). Spider crabs get their name from their likeness to a spider. They have rounded bodies that are covered with stubby projections (tubercles) and long spindly legs (Bliss, 1982) :smiley-fa

 

[tomtom]

yeh but at least if you catch one.. it will feed you for a month! ):

 

[mal]

I am in gosport just across the water from portsmouth on the south coast we get spider crabs around here

 

[Squidders]

not if it catches you first :rolmao:

So tomtom, how are you going to catch them and how are you going to prepare them? I guess it's worth checking the population out too... just in case there are only 5 and you catch 4 of them

 

[Realgar]

Eat em into local extinction! ( or post me one as an addition to our lab aquarium, Pinchy needs a friend). - and report them here:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/zoology/crab/#Can

Just found a recipe in a nat geographic article basicaly you boil them and them stir fry with lemon grass and ginger,

Realgar

 

[Paganwolf]

Mmmmmmmm sounds nice ive heard if you get crabs drunk they walk forwards! :?:

 

[TheViking]

See that's pretty cool... I like the UK because you can find crabs that are just big enough to eat but not big enough to seriously damage you... Feel sorry for people in the Pacific region:

http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~srichardson/giant-crab.jpg

Yeah. I've heard of a crab in Japan that get's 3-4 m. long. This picture puts things into dimension: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/race/media/photo_gallery/photos/Crabs/redkingcrab_small.jpg :biggthump

Good to hear Pagan. I love fishing for crabs when we're on the harbour or the like. :biggthump

 

[Paganwolf]

WOW now thats a biggun!! ive just found out by brothers got cray fish in the lake next to his house!!!! happy days!!! im going over later with my trap, and ive just got a digi cam so hopefully ill take some pics

 

[Realgar]

Just remeber you're supposed to have a fyke net license to use the trap - so be discreet.
By the way, is my crayfish catch going down because it's getting cold or because of the sheer amount I've taken - 400 in about two months from one stretch of river. This month though I've never caught more 12 at time. The aim is to wipe them out....

 

[Paganwolf]

Just remeber you're supposed to have a fyke net license to use the trap - so be discreet.
By the way, is my crayfish catch going down because it's getting cold or because of the sheer amount I've taken - 400 in about two months from one stretch of river. This month though I've never caught more 12 at time. The aim is to wipe them out....

your crayfish catch will go down now as the days become colder and the crayfish slow down with their feeding and movements, my fresh water crabs are very weary im gonna need my secret weapon!!!! Kids,crab lines and bacon :rolmao:

 

[TheViking]

your crayfish catch will go down now as the days become colder and the crayfish slow down with their feeding and movements, my fresh water crabs are very weary im gonna need my secret weapon!!!! Kids,crab lines and bacon :rolmao:

I have caught hundreds of crabs this way. But I always use mussels found in the cracks of the stones. A piece of string, a clothes peg and a bucket with water. :biggthump

 

[Paganwolf]

I have caught hundreds of crabs this way. But I always use mussels found in the cracks of the stones. A piece of string, a clothes peg and a bucket with water. :biggthump

Yup true in sea side places fishy stuff does make for good crabbing bate, but in the wilds of essex i reacon these crabs will like their bacon in the morning! i know i do and im always crabby in the morning :rolmao:

 

[Ed]

Just remeber you're supposed to have a fyke net license to use the trap - so be discreet.

No, get a license and keep it legal :biggthump

Ed

 

[Paganwolf]

would you need a licence for mitten crabs? :?:

 

[Realgar]

It's the trap that's the problem and it's byelaw specific to confuse matters. They're classed as fyke nets which are intended for taking eels and need a fairly expensive license. British waterways round this end don't give a damn whether it's licensed or not providing you're after crayfish, I'm not usre how tolerant they are in other areas.
The Thames area for obscure historical reasons you need a license to take crayfish but they don't charge for it and apparently most often just do a verbal agreement over the phone. Mitten crabs aren't covered by law at all in the UK so you can probably do what you like with them.

Realgar