Bait Guide

Bait is in store purchase ONLY, we DO NOT ship bait

The Green Crab by Russell & Maureen Albertson

Green Crab Green Crabs are used to catch a variety of different fish, but most often are used to catch Tautog(alias blackfish,slippery bass). Black Sea Bass, Ling and Codfish can also be caught on crabs while fishing on wrecks and artificial reefs. Stripers have been caught on green crabs in the fall, although they are not commonly used as a striper bait.

It is interesting to note that many good catches of weakfish were made possible by using shedder green crabs. OH!--Did you forget they shed, also?. Well, they do, although they are much harder to identify as shedders, because the same symptoms that are visible on a blue claw crab are hidden by the green crab's darker colors.

Green crabs, like the bloodworms, are most often imported from the New England states. They are indigenous to our area, but with the extreme tides in the northern states the green crabs are much easier to trap. When fishing Tautog, any live crab cut properly will work. Spotted ocean crabs, sand fleas, calico crabs and fiddler crabs are part of a tautog's normal diet. Green crabs are purchased by the fisherman who doesn't want to spend any of his valuble fishing time catching bait, and are available almost year-round in our store. The exception being during January - February, when they sometimes become scarce. The weather gets so cold in Maine, that the harvesting of the crabs kills them before they can be stored at temperatures above freezing.

Uses and tips for fishing with Green crabs

Top Green Crab Green crabs are used in various ways. Techniques differ depending on the individual who is doing the fishing. A crab that is put on as bait whole and intact will assure that the larger of the fish in any one school will be on your line. Big bait catches big fish.{pounding fist!}However, there is one drawback to this theory.

If the fishing is slow, the water cold, or the tautog are being picky, the other fishermen on the boat will catch more fish with crabs that they have dressed up. This can be achieved by doing any one or all of the following:

  1. Cutting them in half
  2. Removing the claws
  3. Peeling off the back shells
  4. Removing the swim fins.
Green crabs are usually bought by the dozen. One dozen crabs normally means 2 dozen baits. Crabs can also be purchased in bulk: 1/8 bushel, 1/4 bushel, 1/2 bushel, full bushel. Charter boats purchase several bushels of crabs at a time. During a real good fishing trip, two people could use up 1/4 bushel of crabs. However, an 1/8 bushel of crabs will catch all the fish that any two people care to spend hours cleaning.

Bottom Green Crab If you have extra green crabs after fishing they can be stored in a refrigerator for up to two weeks. It is recommended to put green crabs in a spare refrigerator that's just for bait, because they stink. Green crabs can also be stored in a bait box in salt water that has good circulation. When the water warms up, sinking the bait box to a cooler water depth will assure a better survival ratio.

Feeding them is only necessary if you are trying to hold them for long periods of time. Green crabs are ravenous and they will consume any fish carcass. Try not to expose green crabs to long periods of sun or heat, they will die.

All Green crabs smell somewhat. DO NOT attempt to use dead smelly rotten green crabs. If the bad scent gets on your cutting board, it will ruin all the good crabs you cut next. So make sure the crabs are moving, even if it is ever so slightly! Yes, this means that freezing your left-over green crabs is not a good idea.

Rigs are basically a top/bottom style with two bait holder hooks. Anything labeled sea bass, blackfish or tautog. Use enough weight to hold bottom.

Related Links:

These common fish baits started out as an invasive species!

Greenies @ Wiki

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