you can harvest a limit of rock crab there at low tide just walking the spit. Feel under the larger rocks and the crab will be tucked up underneath.
So once those mean little sons of bitches grab on to your finger, what do you do?
Sorry for the slow response. I was "feeling" with the handle of a bass fishing size net. When the metal handle of the net touches a crab shell it has a distinctly different sound then solid rock, plus you can feel them shuffle when you disturb them. The net also helps if they try to run. I limited easily wearing a pair of xtra tuffs and never had to wade above my boots.
I saw quite a few people doing it completely by hand, but I'm pretty fond of my fingers just the way they are.
I did see some people out there wearing chest waders and tethered to little coolers for their catch. I'm sure that works too, but didn't seem necessary.
As it was, I heard the guys in waders calling me a neandrathal and insinuating that I was a law breaker because I was cleaning my crab at the water's edge. I have always cleaned my crab at the end of my fishing efforts, be it on foot or in a boat. I understand the rules about keeping them intact while "in the field" so that gamies can check for sex, size, etc. I always understood being in the field to mean a) still on the boat, or b) still actively fishing on the beach or riverside. As I had my limit of legal crab, I was done crabbing, and in my mind I was "leaving the field". So as I always do, I ripped the shell off and split them in half, leaving the guts and other stuff to be eaten by birds or other little sea beasts. Transporting processed catch is legal last time I read the regs, and my understanding is that I can travel with my processed catch. This same rationale applies to fish where size limits exist, selective hatchery fisheries, species restrictions (bottomfish), etc. I didn't take the time to discuss this with the guys that were bad mouthing me from 50 yards away. I figured I would just let them take their crab home whole and they can think what they want of me. If anyone has a different interpretation I would like to hear it. I ALWAYS play by the rules when harvesting the bounty of our shared resources, whether I agree with the rules or not. If I am in the wrong I am absolutely willing to change my ways. I just don't interpret the law to require taking crab home in the whole. Are we required to keep proof of the legality of our catch until we reach our homes? Do I need to start transporting my catch in the whole? I've never been asked to prove the legality of my catch unless I was still on the water in my boat, or standing on the side of a river actively fishing. AM I A DUMB NEANDRATHAL????
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