Live Shore Crab - securing on hook ?

[RichardB]

What would the forum recommend as the most secure way of placing live shore crab on a hook ?

[darenw]

I peel the back shell off first,(never bother with the legs)then puncture the bait a couple of times with a knife or scissors or whatevers handy! then I pull off the legs on one side of the crab . I pass the hook through the underside of the crab and out of the middle of the topshell (soft part).Then I lash the legs that are still attached and the ones I pulled off to the shank of the hook and add a couple of turns just above the eye to make the bait stable with the hook point clear. Hardbacks get the same treatment.
nb if i'm fishing a big bait but the crabs are on the small side I half a couple and thread these up the hooklength first and then do the above and then pull the halves down and lash with a little elastic.

[solehunter]

With hard backs, i have always just cracked the shell to release the smell and bound onto the hook by the legs on one side of the crab. Never used the hardbacks much but when i have, i have had some interesting results as far as bites go. The bass hit hard as do wrasse. I would say 90% of the bass i have gutted have had perfectly whole hard backs in their stomachs.

[meoc4life]

i would just punture some wholes in it and aplly bait elastic and use a aberdeen hook

[RichardB]

Thank you gentlemen . I should have made it clearer - it was hard backs I was thinking of specifically.

[slippery]

turn it upside down lift the flap up at the back put the hook through there, you can also add elastic to it but they seem to live fine, but always pull ya line back every now an again when fishing them cause they bury them selfs!! and you can only flick em out..........

[RichardB]

Cheers slippery . That sounds good - flicking em out is all I'll need .....

[solehunter]

slippery said:

turn it upside down lift the flap up at the back put the hook through there, you can also add elastic to it but they seem to live fine, but always pull ya line back every now an again when fishing them cause they bury them selfs!! and you can only flick em out..........

Put the hook through the flap?

[Pete B]

Used hardbacks from the boat a fair bit but that involved taking a 2lb lead to them & then wrapping the mess that was left to a large hook with plenty of elastic.

Although I never tried to present a crab in attempt to keep it going for as long as poss I think I'd go for entering through a leg socket, then depending on the size of the crab & hook either set the point through its underside or back edge where top & bottom lids meet.

I dont think it really mattters where the hook petrudes from a hooking point of view, it seems to me they just swallow crabs of a fair size with ease.

[Pete B]

[Pete B]

That was out of a bass under 7lb that came an hour after first light & the very first push of the flood, first cast of the session.

[Pete B]

Rich, I've got an old book that has a drawing of 'lashing a live harback' . Done with a cotton, the hook is actually lashed shank against back with the cotton wipped between each leg, trying doing that without a pinch!

[cuckoo]

Bass eating pennies ,
he must have been hungry lol ,
if its a slight lob you are after , then a simple leg socket hook will be ok !!!,
after all , how many crabs have you actually brought in that have been hooked in the socket ,
and how difficult is it to get the hook out !!!!!

lee.

[RichardB]

Thanks for that Pete. Plenty of ideas there ! I think a combination of flap/socket hooking and a bit of leg lashing could do the trick !

Yes, more often than not, bass I've taken at my favourite spot have had stomachs literaly bulging with crabs like the one shown in Pete's picture.
On more than one occasion this year I've been fishing worm baits on small hooks - Mr crab comes along to chomp it - gets hooked, then a good bass has siezed it confidently and made off in the direction of Calshot. It's dropped after a few seconds of mutual tugging and pulling of course. Then I wind in and find a confused, bedraggled but otherwise still kicking crab. I'm certain this kind of thing happens more than we realise.
I realise there's nothing new in this but I've never persued it properly. I plan a concerted effort in the coming season - i.e. fish live hardbacks in tandem with usual fish baits.
It will be easy (and cheap) to gather a bucket load of hardbacks from the local creek.

[Pete B]

Another idea I have pondered over was the use of pva stockingnet - I believe the freshwater lads use it.
Make a mess of a single or a few hardbacks, knot the bottom end of a pva sleeve, pile the smashed crabs in knot the other end & form a sausage, then only a few turns of elastic would be needed to secure to hook & snood. Maybe you could even make them up &/or pre-freeze them at home, then just whip them on at the beach.
Once cast the pva disolves to slowly release all the juice & scent ....Lovely!