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Post by the don on Jun 5, 2008 16:43:21 GMT
are hard back crabs any good, they seem difficult to get on the hook
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Post by eccles on Jun 5, 2008 17:02:43 GMT
Apparently the method is to take off back legs and pass a suitable size Aberdeen hook through one leg socket and out the other. Some folks take claws off too because they reckon they might spook the fish. Not sure about that one meself. Anyway, caught a smut last week and it's gut was chock full of hardback crab so I guess that particular smut was not put off by claws.
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Post by lighty on Jun 5, 2008 21:20:29 GMT
Crabs are one of the staple diets of many fish, if they only ate them when peeling there would be a lot of hungry fish (commom sense)
Make a hole with the point of your knife in the shell to allow the juices to run out when fishing with Hardback. You can always push the eye of the hook through the crab first,then tie on your snood.
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Post by greysfanboy on Jun 5, 2008 21:33:28 GMT
Nearly all fish I've gutted (maybe with the exception of pelagic like mackerel, gars etc) have hard back crab in.
Fish are oppotunistic feeders, they don't just swim past crabs and think 'no it's not a peeler I'll go without'. The edge that peeler has is scent. But when targetting species like smuts that hunt in packs, you have a much better chance of picking one up on hardback because they are looking for them actively.
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Post by boatman on Jun 5, 2008 22:13:48 GMT
i used to crew for Auther tulbot on Alanea 2, years ago and we always used green hardback crabs for smutts at the puller and boulder banks.We never took the legs off and used to put the hole crab on as it was, the only thing we found was the red ones where no good thay didnt touch them.We always used them and we always did well plus thay are cheaper than softies.Still in them days there was more fish about
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Post by fishyrob on Jun 7, 2008 7:27:15 GMT
To answer your main question "are hardbacks any good for bait" the answer would have to be no. MOstly cr*p. Good hound bait though, and as boatman pointed out the green ones are the best. Personally when hounding I like to cut them in half, and use a half crab. When hounding from the shore I think the best are "crincklies", hardening up after they have popped.
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Post by phish on Jun 9, 2008 20:27:06 GMT
Smurfhounds like hardbacks, hooked them every way you can think of but through the tail bottom to top works best.
I've found peelers and hermits normally out fish em uptiding off the boat.
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Post by boatman on Jun 11, 2008 21:13:06 GMT
just one thing when i was a lad and fished fareham creek a lot for flattys.When we gutted them thay all used to have small hard back crabs in ther stomacs about the size of your thumb nail.I have always wonderd if thay where hair rigged like the carp boys do will thay work?  ?? Anyone tryed it?,perhaps i should there is no end to the supply.And i wonder if the sole that solehunter guts have any hard backs in there? food for thought |
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Post by monkeynuts on Jun 20, 2008 21:57:19 GMT
never noticed crab in any sole iv had, just small cockles, mussles and some goo
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Post by solehunter on Jun 23, 2008 17:22:22 GMT
just one thing when i was a lad and fished fareham creek a lot for flattys.When we gutted them thay all used to have small hard back crabs in ther stomacs about the size of your thumb nail.I have always wonderd if thay where hair rigged like the carp boys do will thay work? ?? Anyone tryed it?,perhaps i should there is no end to the supply.And i wonder if the sole that solehunter guts have any hard backs in there? food for thought Never seen any crab in the guts, mostly small perrywinkle shells and black goo which i think is muscle shell left overs. ;D |
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Post by shonzy on Jul 10, 2008 7:54:45 GMT
I really rate harbacks for the hounds, beach and boat. I've mentioned this before and got shot down but i had alot of hound's off the beach in 2006 and 2007 and all were caught bar 1 or 2 on harbacks.
If there aren't many hounds about then maybe sometimes peeler may have the edge but sayin that i've still out fished ppl using peeler.
I've had bass and wrasse on harback's too. Every fish has it's preference. It all depends on what your fishing for. It's like asking is cat food a good bait, for carp, tench yes but bass err no ;D
Arron
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Post by AdamG on Jul 10, 2008 16:13:02 GMT
I really rate harbacks for the hounds, beach and boat. I've mentioned this before and got shot down but i had alot of hound's off the beach in 2006 and 2007 and all were caught bar 1 or 2 on harbacks. If there aren't many hounds about then maybe sometimes peeler may have the edge but sayin that i've still out fished ppl using peeler. I've had bass and wrasse on harback's too. Every fish has it's preference. It all depends on what your fishing for. It's like asking is cat food a good bait, for carp, tench yes but bass err no ;D Arron well you never know... bass have been caught on bread, cheese, sausage... so whos knows, they might go for at food |
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Post by steve1965 on Jul 10, 2008 16:17:25 GMT
if he hounds are in packs doesnt really matter what crab if they are far and few between then peeler will out do hardback all day long dont really now why must be a scent they let of or coz they soft ?
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