Thread: Crab Spawning Migration

Remember the influx of crabs to the surf a couple of years ago? People were just scooping them up with long-handled crab nets and catching a bunch of really nice ones. As a reminder, that happened on or about the second week of August of 2019.
It will be interesting to see if it happens again around the same time or happens to the same degree this year.

It may vary from year to year. Many years ago as a kid I had a great 4th of July vacation week catching crabs in the surf. They were big and beautiful. I love to eat them.

I saw them many years ago down Fort Morgan Road. I was told that it was illegal to catch the egg carriers. There were plenty of back then.

Yea, you should release egg bearing crabs (sponge crabs). And truth be told, growing up in Maryland, we never even considered keeping She crabs. Far less meat than Jimmys. You could make She Crab Soup, but I never fooled with it. Nothing like a crab feast and cold beer and old bay.
And yes, the population fluctuates quite a bit from year to year. Maryland has pretty much gotten the management of the harvest down pretty well. It’s a huge industry in the Bay.